A Second Chance
by MissMinnie08
Summary: Be careful of what you wish for.' If only Neji would have known that then maybe she would still be alive, maybe then he wouldn't feel such guilt. But then he gets a glimps of what could have been and might be. NejiHina, Hyuugacest, don't like don't read.
1. Death

Summary: After all this time, Neji finally gets his wish. His wish that Hinata would forever disappear from his life. But what was that old saying? 'Be careful of what you wish for.'? Now that his wish has finally come true, he is finding himself regretting his hateful wish and cold attitude. But on the one year anniversary of her absence from his life, he is given a second chance, and a glimpse of what his future could have been.

Chapter 1: Death

He stared in horror at the bloody scene before him. For years, he had wished for her death countless times, hating her for who she was, for what she represented. Even after his fight with Naruto in the Chuunin exams, he still couldn't bring himself to fully get rid of all his hatred. It was still there burning a black hole into his heart and soul. He knew he should have tried to bridge the gap that had come between them over the years, he knew he should give her a chance, but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't. She was still weak and timid, everything a Konaha shinobi shouldn't be. She was merciful, soft, and easily put in her place. Everything the leader of their noble clan shouldn't be. She was a failure yet the Heiress and a Chuunin. And he hated her and his duty to her. But seeing her from across the battle field, seeing her fight for all that she was worth, seeing an extra enemy catch her by surprise and running his sword through her shocked him to the core. Everything suddenly seemed to stop, all the fighting, all the noise. All he could see was the blood spill from her body, and her look of surprise as she slowly fell to the ground. As soon as her broken body collapsed onto the hard surface, the fighting, the noise, started up again. He could hear someone in the distance yelling, a deep heartfelt yell.

"NO!" they screamed and as soon as they were done, he was shocked to feel his mouth close and his throat horse, he was the one that had yelled. His body was numb yet it moved on its on accord. He watched as he ran faster than he had ever ran before, passing all the other fights that were occurring between them. Her opponent was about to strike her again, but then he watched as his arm come up, blocking it with his kunai. Then without even thinking, he suddenly went into his Heavenly Spin, sending all her opponents flying. He quickly finished his spin and with the speed that was given credit only to the ANBU, he destroyed each and every one of them before they even touched the ground.

Turning around, he found her lying on her side, her arms trying to cover the fatal wound that pierced her body. He walked over to her, feeling as if this wasn't real, as if this was just a dream, a dream he desperately wanted to wake from. Standing over her, his pale eyes took in the large puddle of blood that was quickly surrounding her. Sensing someone, she slowly and carefully turned her head slightly. He stood there, just looking at her, blood that wasn't his splattered onto his face and arms. Her eyes tried not to look pleading, she tried to look accepting, she knew she was dying, she knew she only had a few minutes left. Oh how she wanted to apologize to him for making his life such hell, she wanted to tell him that she too was a cadged bird, and that he wasn't alone. But she wasn't sure if he would accept such words from her.

Suddenly Neji fell to his knees and he gently slid his arm under her neck, lifting her carefully, his other hand pressing against her own, trying to stop the bleeding yet both knowing it was futile. He hated her, he wished for this, Fate was finally giving him something he wanted, then why…why was he holding her? Why was he desperately trying to stop the bleeding, why was he trying to save her? He didn't know what to tell her, what to say to her. She was dying. She was dying in his arms, this was going to be the last time he would see her, speak with her, yet he couldn't find anything to say. Hinata tried to smile through the pain, she didn't know that he would come to care for her, she thought he hated her, but maybe she was wrong. Maybe he was waiting for her to bridge that gap, maybe he needed help, her help, and she failed him.

"I…I'm s-sorry." She whispered, trying not to choke on the blood she felt raising in her throat.

"Don't speak." He said with more calm than they both felt. Hinata smiled again, if there was one thing she could count on, it was Neji's inability to panic. He was always so levelheaded, always seeking a solution with patience and calm. Though the only time they were ever close was when they were children, he was still a constant in her life. Always there. It scared her that she would no longer be with her family or her friends. That this was actually the end for her.

"T-take…c-care…of…H-Hanabi…for me." she urged, her lavender eyes pleading with him. He clenched his teeth tightly as he could feel his heart beat faster and his breathing becoming shallow. She, too, was an ever constant in his life. A thorn in his side that would finally be removed. But every time he tried to imagine what life would be like without her, he would just come up with a blank. He didn't see relief, he didn't see happiness, he didn't see freedom, he didn't see anything. Is that what the future was going to be? Nothing? Was that why he was her protector? To ensure that he had a future? He didn't answer her request, he was concentrating too hard on keeping his face and eyes shuttered, not revealing his panicking thoughts.

"I…I…h-hope…one day…y-you'll…find…your…f-freedom." She whispered tiredly, she couldn't feel the pain anymore, and for that she was grateful. Darkness slowly clouded her vision and her eyelids felt so heavy. So, it wasn't so bad, to die. It was just like going to sleep. With the last of her strength, a corner of her mouth lifted slightly, creating a small smile.

"Neji…my cousin…my…friend." And with that her final breath slowly lifted from her body and expelled into the air. He was frozen, he couldn't move, he couldn't think, he couldn't breathe. All he could hear were her final words, echoing in his mind, playing over and over again. _Neji…my cousin…my…friend._ How could she call him that? How could she call him her friend? He had done nothing to deserve that title. He didn't support her, he put her down. He didn't ease her pain, he increased it. He wasn't a friend, he was an enemy. So how could she call him a friend? Was she that pathetic, that she had to start calling her enemies her friends?

"Are you that stupid? Are you that dumb? I'm not your friend. I'm not your friend!" he yelled at the limp body in his arms. His eyes couldn't see, he was blind, blind to everything.

"Do you hear me?!" he shook her, "I'm not your friend!" He yelled at her angrily, staring at her pale and serene face. He watched with enraged eyes as drops of water began to fall onto her smooth cheeks, sliding into the crevice of her mouth. Rain. She always enjoyed the rain.

"Neji?" Ino called, running over to him. He turned his face to watch her fast approach but as soon as he did she stopped in her tracks and gasped aloud, her hand coming quickly to cover her mouth as she started at him with shock. It wasn't until he saw that there were no other raindrops around him that he tasted liquid salt in his mouth. Lifting a bloodied hand, he touched his face delicately, feeling the wetness on his cheeks from his eyes. He looked back to the woman in his arms, staring at the wetness on her face. They were tears, they were his tears. So now, not only did she call him a friend but now she was making a cry baby out of him! How dare she!

"Wake up! What have you done to me!? What have you done to me?!" he yelled again, shaking her body. Ino quickly rush over and kneeled down. She was too late, why was she always too late! She couldn't save her sensei and now she couldn't save her friend and comrade! What was the point of becoming a medic nin if she couldn't save the ones closest to her!? Touching Neji's shoulder lightly, she looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"S-she's…she's gone Neji." She told him as gently as she could, but he shook his head and continued staring at the woman in his arms.

"No. No! She wouldn't leave her dream behind. She's weak, but she doesn't give up." He said, shaking her again. More tears began to build in Ino's eyes. Here was a man known and respected for his cool manner and his ability to remain objective at all times. A man known for his animosity towards Hinata and the Main House of the Hyuuga clan. A man that was now crying over and denying her death. It seems that sometimes the taking of a life could change even the coldest of hearts.

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AN: Wah, what a horribly sad beginning, I know! I didn't really intend it to be that way, but that's how it goes. Anyways, welcome to by new NejiHina fic…this is a little birthday present to myself. I had put my other ficcies on hold for the time being so I shouldn't really be uploading this yet, but oh well…it's my birthday! I can do what I want! And I've been dying to write another one and now I've finally come up with a semi-original idea for a plot line. Hope you guys enjoy it. Reviews are always nice.


	2. Left Behind

Chapter 2: Left Behind

"_S-she's…she's gone Neji." She told him as gently as she could, but he shook his head and continued staring at the woman in his arms._

"_No. No! She wouldn't leave her dream behind. She's weak, but she doesn't give up." He said, shaking her again. More tears began to build in Ino's eyes. Here was a man known and respected for his cool manner and his ability to remain objective at all times. A man known for his animosity towards Hinata and the Main House of the Hyuuga clan. A man that was now crying over and denying her death. It seems that sometimes the taking of life could change even the coldest of hearts._

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There were many deaths in that last battle of the war. More than anyone thought possible. They were running out of space on the memorial rock thanks to that horrific battle. And the day they held the memorial service was as dark and dreary as the feelings of the people of Konaha, for yet another Hokage was taken sooner than anyone would have liked. It was only luck that Tsunade had started making preparations for the person who would be the next Hokage, for the young man who was Hokage now. Naruto's dream was finally realized, he had finally proven everyone wrong, he was now the sixth Hokage. Yet to be named on a day when so many friends had been killed, he felt little joy.

He was the first to walk up the tables with pictures of those who were destroyed in battle. He was one of the many that carried numerous flowers, instead of one. Gently lying each one down in front of the picture of his friends that would no longer be able to smile with him, laugh with him, train with him. He walked slowly, placing the white flowers in front of Tsunade's picture, Shino's picture, Hinata's, Sakura's, Tenten's, Choji's, Shikamaru's, Iruka's, and many others. He almost couldn't believe it, they were gone, all gone.

Once he was done, he walked back to his place amongst the others, looking, watching the ones who were left, the ones who survived, the ones with broken hearts. He watched Kiba, the only one left from his genin team, even Akumaru and both his mother and sister had died. He was half surprised that he had not committed suicide. What was he to live for now? Was it like Sasuke said? Was it worse to have family and then lose them rather than never to have family at all? He watched Ino, for she too was the only one left from her genin team. But not only did she lose her friends, she had lost her love as well. Her and Choji even had a date set for when they were going to get married, and now it will never happen. He watched Lee, the poor man had lost an arm from the elbow down, and the two women that he was closest to was now gone. His worry for Lee however was slightly lesser than the others, for he knew, like himself, he would never give up, even if there was nothing left to live for. Finally his eyes turned towards Neji, who almost looked normal. Over the years he had noticed that Neji did indeed change his attitude towards his teammates, towards the others that he worked with, towards his determination to break free from his cage. But his relationship with Hinata seemed to be the only thing that didn't change. It was only when around her that Naruto would see Neji revert back to his old self, cold, distant, and harsh. And now it seemed that the old Neji would never leave, it seemed as if all those years of changing was for nothing, that they didn't even happen. His eyes were colder than usual and as hard as granite yet no one could even guess what he was thinking for his gaze was pulled inward and closed to the outside world.

Naruto wasn't sure to worry about him the most or the least. Traditionally, a shinobi's lack of emotion was for the best. That the shinobi who felt the least, loved the least, hated the least, was the best kind of shinobi of all. But that was not what Naruto believed, yet here was Neji, seemed almost unfazed by the death of his teammate and cousin. He had heard otherwise from Ino, that when Hinata died Neji was devastated and in shock, so much so that she had to knock him out in order to move themselves to a safer place. But looking at him now, it was so hard to believe. Was Neji really that affected by her death? Naruto wasn't sure if he hoped so or not. He knew, better than anyone, the price one pays for bottling up such strong emotions. Would Neji be a liability to him in the future? Would he become unstable on a mission when he's reminded of her death? Or will he be able to move on easily, happy that she was finally gone? Naruto clenched his hands into tight fists at his side. If he didn't take her death seriously, if he was actually happy that she was dead, he would never forgive him.

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Neji walked forward solemnly, placing his single white flower in front of Tsunade's picture. He stood there for a moment, remembering the times she appointed him Chuunin, Jounin, and then ANBU. She had told him that they next time they spoke; it would be the discussion on whether or not he was ready to become an ANBU captain. But it seems that discussion will never take place with her. He will never have to feel that slight disgust whenever he would report to her after a mission to find her completely drunk. He will never have to worry about whether she was going to beat him with the monstrous strength she had in her fists. He will never get to hear her laugh as she teased him about stupid stuff. Sighing softly, he moved on to Tenten's picture.

It was the only picture of her when she had her hair down. She hadn't wanted to take the picture that way, but was tired and frustrated whenever someone would ask what she looked like with her hair down. Then she laughed and winked, saying that maybe now she'll get more guys coming her way. He remembered at the time, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at her statement. She was never really interested in anyone, focusing solely on her admiration for Tsunade and wanting to become a strong woman. She had no problem not being emotionally attached to any man. In fact, if he remembered correctly, like him, she preferred it that way. She was his first, and he was her first, but for them it was just a release. Just a way to relieve the lusty demands on their bodies. But he respected her, enjoyed her company most of the time, and trusted her. He would miss her.

Moving lastly to Hinata's picture, Neji stood there, feeling numb once again. He studied her features, noting the difference from when he first met her. He had known her the longest out of all of their friends, yet he knew her the least. He did not know what jokes would make her laugh or make her blush. He did not know what made her smile and what made her frown. He did not know how many dreams she had or even what they were. But he was the one to witness all the changes within her. From physical changes to mental changes. He knew what she was, and what she was not. He knew the rumor about how she looked and acted like her late mother, a woman, he had found out recently, who was his father's first love. As he stood in front of her picture, remembering so many things, he didn't know what to feel or what he was feeling. He hated to admit, even to himself, that if felt as if a part of him had died with her. The part of him that was still the little boy who had his first crush on her. The little boy who was excited, eager, and happy to be the one choosen to protect her. The little boy whose soul now died with her, along with his feelings.

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Hours after the memorial service ended, Neji finally made his way towards the Hyuuga compound. His steps even and precise, his pace, slow. He wondered now how the household would change. Hanabi, though fifteen, will now be named the new Heiress, and he would probably be given the task to protect her as well. That is, if they chose him. He didn't exactly do very well with his last charge. He was actually surprised that they didn't kill him, or even punish him. Did the Main House hold that much resentment towards her? That they felt it was her own fault for being weak? Not that he was saying he thought her otherwise. Quite contrary, a week ago he would have quickly agreed. But now…now that she was gone…he didn't know what he would do. He felt confused and hated feeling that way. Why did she call him her friend?

Walking by her bedroom in order to get it his, he paused when he heard a soft noise coming from the inside. Curious enough to open the door, he found Hanabi curled up in a ball on Hinata's bed, weeping. Hanabi looked up, wondering who she heard enter the room, to find Neji just standing in the middle, staring at her. Her lip trembled as her eyes filled with tears, getting up, she ran towards him and wrapped her arms about his middle crying into his chest. He didn't move to hold or comfort her and she didn't expect him to, she was usually like him, straying away from any kind of human contact or showing any kind of emotion. But all of that was an exception when it came to her sister. For Hinata was also the only kind of mother she knew, she was both sister and mother. Supporting her, always being there for her, soothing her, hugging her, holding her. Now there was no one who would do that. No one would hold her now and tell her that eventually everything would be alright. No one would kiss her forehead and softly coo her to sleep. Her closest female companion was gone, gone forever.

Neji stood there, waiting till her tears would dry up. He felt awkward but he never did have a problem with Hanabi. She was too much like him, too much like her father. She was strong and talented, capable, unlike her sister. The only problem he could ever see that he would have with her, was that she was supposed to belong to the Branch House. But since Hiashi, seeing his elder daughter fail at being a strong heir, decided not to mark Hanabi. Making it possible for her to be the heir of the clan. But he was too tired to bother to hold a grudge anymore. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, Hinata's scent still lingered filling his senses with lavender and lilac. It wasn't a strong smell, not like the other shampoos and perfumes that other women liked to wear, but it was forever imprinted into his mind. And whenever he would smell it, he will always, automatically, think of her.

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AN: Neh, I know the chapters are really short, but I can't think of better places to end them. But most likely, as the story goes on the chapters will get a little bit longer. I know it's still sad, but hopefully the next chapter will be different. That's when the REAL story begins. See you guys then. Reviews would be lovely.


	3. Fate's Decision

Chapter 3: Fate's Decision

_Neji stood there, waiting till her tears would dry up. He felt awkward but he never did have a problem with Hanabi. She was too much like him, too much like her father. She was strong and talented, capable, unlike her sister. The only problem he could ever see that he would have with her, was that she was supposed to belong to the Branch House. But since Hiashi, seeing his elder daughter fail at being a strong heir, decided not to mark Hanabi. Making it possible for her to be the heir of the clan. But he was too tired to bother holding grudges anymore. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, Hinata's scent still lingered filling his senses with lavender and lilac. It wasn't a strong smell, not like the other shampoos and perfumes that other women liked to wear, but it was forever imprinted into his mind. And whenever he would smell it, he will always, automatically, think of her._

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Large round brown eyes stared at the silent man standing in front of the memorial stone. He looked tired and thin, he didn't look very healthy, especially now that he was standing in the rain, soaked to the bone. But it seemed like he didn't care. His pale eyes remained glued to a certain spot on the stone, unmoving. He had been there for hours, and who knew how long he remain there. There was a small white rose that was being held tightly in his hand, it too as wet as him. His observer slowly stepped out of their hiding spot and walked towards him. Neji knew there was someone there watching him, but he didn't care to see who, nor did he bother when they revealed themselves. His eyes never moved from a certain name on that cold dark stone. It was one year, one full year since that name was added on there, and he now knew how he felt that day of the memorial service, that day she died in his arms. It was regret. Regret for making such a dark wish upon her, regret that it actually came true, regret for now knowing that life without her was not what he thought it would be.

Suddenly a small warm and dry hand, found its way into his larger cold wet one. His eyes quickly glanced down to see a small girl, looking up at him with curious brown eyes. Turning his gaze away, he left his hand where it was, for in the emptiness that had engulfed his life for an entire year, he had little energy to remove that young girl's hand. For a while she didn't say anything, just content holding onto his hand and standing by his side. But as the minutes passed by, she finally spoke up.

"Why do you come here everyday?" she asked innocently. Neji could feel a small spark of surprise inside of him. How did she know that he came here everyday? Was she here everyday spying on him? He remained silent, not answering her, judging what this little girl was all about.

"Is there someone you miss a lot?" she asked, looking up at him, her childish eyes reminding him of someone else.

"Yes." He heard himself answer softly, quietly. Was it possible to miss someone you hated? It seemed it was possible for him. As the weeks had passed after her death, his determination and vigor to break free soon paled and slowly started to disappear. He had not realized that she had taken such a large part of his soul when she had died. He had not realized how much affect she had on him and his life.

"Did you love them?" the small girl asked him.

"No." he answered. There may have been feelings and emotions that confused him, but love was certainly not one of the things he felt. You would not wish for the death of someone you love. You would not almost kill someone you love. He would not have treated her the way he did if he had loved her.

"But you miss them?" the girl asked with a slightly confused voice.

"Yes." He replied after a while. He did. He missed her, but he did not love her. Was that possible? The girl lowered her eyes and then looked straight ahead, her grip on his fingers tightening a little.

"Do you wish things could be different?" the girl asked, her voice deepening slightly. But Neji paid it no heed, too wrapped up in her question than her voice. Did he wish things could be different? Life at the compound seemed more dreary and stifling as ever. Hanabi tried taking on a more optimistic outlook on her life, trying to be the way her sister wanted her to be. But no one could replace the small delicate woman that Hinata was. There were no more vases of various flowers arranged in different rooms anymore. There was no more gentle humming coming from the room next to his anymore. There were no more laughing and teasing in the Main House anymore. The compound might as well been a mausoleum, for all the cheerfulness there was there. No one had realized how much Hinata brightened up the place. No one had realized that everyone received some kind of joy or happiness from her, including himself. Whenever he would get done after a difficult training session, deep down he would have a sick joy of knowing, even more, that he deserved the title of heir instead of her. That it was supposed to be his place in the Main House and that hers was supposed to be in the Branch House. He would prove himself right and take joy from that. Yet now, there was no joy, no happiness, no nothing.

"Yes." He said after a long time, looking down at the small girl still holding his hand. She lifted her face up to his and smiled. Slowly releasing his hand, she backed away from him.

"It's getting late, I'd better go." she said sheepishly, her pale cheeks coloring a light pink. "Bye nii-san." She said before running off into the distance. Neji's eyes remained, for a moment, from where she disappeared, remembering another small girl who used to call him 'nii-san' and would blush as well. Turning back once more to the memorial stone, he bent down and laid the soaked white flower down and whispered the words he never thought he would say.

"Hinata…I'm sorry." Then he turned around and headed home.

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Pensive brown eyes watched him leave the stone, heading to the emptiness in his heart. Walking out of her hiding spot, the small girl that held his hand moments ago, slowly felt her body change, getting taller, curvy, mature to that of a woman's. Her eyes filled with sadness a regret for a while.

"I apologize Neji…for the hatred that you bore for me and taking it out on Hinata. I'm sorry for making the mistake of putting you into the Branch House. You had received a curse, and for that, I shall give you a gift." Fate whispered to herself.

"I hope this time you know what you are wishing for. I will show you just how different things could be. And maybe this time you will truly realize just how much power you have over me." she closed her eyes and lifted her face, feeling the raindrops fall onto her skin. Lowering her face again, her hands and arms move in an intricate design as she whispered softly to herself. After a few moments, she stopped and looked back in the direction that Neji left.

"It is done."

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Slowly opening his eyes, Neji blinked several times, getting his vision use to the harsh light of the sun. _Odd. I'm usually up before sunrise._ Sliding his arms under his pillow, he arched his back slightly, stretching and waking his tired muscles up. Another day. How he almost wished they would end. For the first time in his life, he felt lazy. He just wanted to sleep. He didn't want to get up and train. He didn't want to go on missions anymore. He swore Naruto purposefully gave him missions where he would end up protecting some girl that reminded him of Hinata. But he had to get up. It was just who he was. He was Hyuuga Neji, a perfect shinobi: unfeeling, emotionless, objective, not human. So sighing deeply, he rolled onto his side and moved to get up when suddenly a small slender arm wrapped around his waist, stopping him from moving. His eyes flew open with shock. Looking down he watched as a small feminine hand that was wrapped around him, slowly started to trace small circles around his navel while he could feel pair of soft lips brushing against the back of his bare shoulder.

Shooting out of bed, he spun around and his eyes widened with shock at the sight before him. Hinata, alive and well, was wrapped up in white bed sheets lying on her side, smiling at him! And not just any smile, it was a mischievous smile, one he would have expected to see on Ino or other women but not her. Her! Hinata! Alive! This had to be a dream, he had to be dreaming. There was no way this could be real. She had died in his arms, he was there, he remembered that day. So, how was this possible?!

"Neji…" she practically purred, "come back to bed." She pouted, as one of her hands lifted up and combed through her long hair, trying to look seductive. It wasn't until then that Neji had realized he wasn't wearing anything and he was standing right in front of her. His face turned a bright shade of scarlet as his eyes quickly scanned the floor looking for something to cover himself with. Finding a pair of sweatpants, he quickly put them on, keeping his back to her.

"Neji?" she called to him again, sounding hurt and concerned. Finally looking at least a little decent, his fast breathing slowed as he leaned onto the dresser in front of the bed, his back to her. _What the hell was going on?_

"Neji what's wrong?" she asked him, her voice a lot closer than earlier. But before he could move, he felt her arms wrap around him from behind pressing her body against his back and kissing his shoulder again. Uncomfortable and confused, Neji squirmed out of her arms and turned to face her. She looked different somehow and she certainly acted different. But what he couldn't understand was how she was alive. Was the past year just a long nightmare? Was right now a dream? It certainly felt real, yet how could it be?

"Honey what's wrong?" she asked again, her eyes full of concern, as she lifted up her left hand to caress his face. He stared at her in shock for a moment. Honey? Did she just call him honey? Then his hand quickly snatched hers, stopping her from touching him, and his eyes were drawn to her fingers. There was a gold ring on her third finger, her wedding finger. His eyes fell down to his own left hand, finding a golden band on his as well.

Shaking his head in disbelief at everything that was going on, he slowly left go of her hand and backed away from her. At least she had the decency to wrap herself in the bed sheets, but then again this was Hinata. Who would never call him honey. Who would never marry him, let alone seem fine if not happy about it. Who was supposed to be dead! He turned from her then threw open the door, wanting to get away, needing to get away. What kind of hell was this!? But before he could get very far, he ran into a ten year old version of himself, except this boy's forehead was bare.

"Tou-san?" the boy responded, looking at him with a confused expression.

"What?" Neji blurted out, unsure if he heard the boy correctly.

"Tou-san, are you alright? You look a little pale." The boy said looking at him with a concerned expression. Suddenly feeling sick to his stomach, Neji brushed passed the boy and walked as fast as he could, without running, towards the door. But of course, just before he reached his destination, a seven year old girl that looked a lot like Hinata, came running towards him closely followed by a four year old girl that looked like a female version of himself.

"Tou-san! Tou-san, look! Look! I can do my Byakugan easy now!" the seven year old cried happily, her Byakugan activated. While the other, small girl, immediately attached herself to his leg.

"G'morning Tou-san." She said softly with an innocent smile. Neji's stomach was all in knots and it felt as if whatever he had for dinner the night before was going to be puked out any minute. Tugging the tiny girl off his leg, Neji shoved her towards the other girl and ran out of the compound. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't think, worst of all, he couldn't keep whatever was in his stomach down.

Running a few yards away from the compound he suddenly leaned against a tree, relieving his stomach of it contents, then slowly slid to his knees. This just couldn't be happening. Just what was going on? Why was everything so…different?

"_Do you wish things could be different?"_

"_Yes."_

This was definitely not what he had in mind when he said that. He just didn't want to feel empty. He didn't want to feel his ever-constant regret. He just didn't want the weight of her death on his shoulders anymore. Closing his eyes, he sat down and leaned against the trunk of the tree. He just needed to think. He needed to sort everything out. After a few minutes, he could hear someone walking in his direction, but even one year of absence couldn't erase the years he's felt her presence. He heard her stop right beside him and crouch down.

"Here." She said softly. Opening his eyes he watched her hold out a cup of water. Taking it, he rinsed his mouth out then took the small hand towel she offered him. Once he handed them back to her, she pulled out a pack he had failed to notice, and proceeded to give him a shirt and a pair of shoes. Silently taking them, he put them on as she put away the cup and towel before making herself comfortable sitting next to him but not touching him. She stayed quiet and inwardly he breathed a sigh a relief, at least some things were still the same. They both sat there, neither speaking nor looking at each other, lost in their own thoughts. Till finally, she spoke up.

"What's going on Neji?" she asked softly, her voice neutral. Neji snorted inwardly.

"You tell me." he replied. She turned to look at him, her eyes full of question.

"I don't understand." She said honestly. He remained silent for a while, gathering his thoughts and figuring out exactly what he was going to say. When he finally looked up at her, she took a sharp breath inward. There was so much emptiness, remorse, and sadness in his eyes.

"You're dead."

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AN: Phew, finally, a good stopping point. Yes I know it's a cliffy, but I didn't really wanted to make it THAT much longer. Yes, I know, the longer the better, but I have difficulty keep the chapters at long lengths. And I would hate to disappoint you guys. Lol. Please leave me a review, I just love them so much. And…come on, I'm not asking for much, just a lil comment here and there. Lol.


	4. Reality Or A Dream?

Chapter 4: Reality Or A Dream?

_"What's going on Neji?" she asked softly, her voice neutral. Neji snorted inwardly._

_"You tell me." he replied. She turned to look at him, her eyes full of question._

_"I don't understand." She said honestly. He remained silent for a while, gathering his thoughts and figuring out exactly what he was going to say. When he finally looked up at her, she took a sharp breath inward. There was so much emptiness, regret, and sadness in his eyes._

_"You're dead."_

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"What?" Hinata softly chuckled, "Neji that's impossible. I'm right here."

"No! You died! A year ago yesterday, you died!...You died right in my arms." He started out angry that she would turn this into a laughing matter, but then, remembering that day, he ended in a soft whisper. It was as if it was yesterday, her blood soaking into his clothes, staining them. Her limp body in his arms, her last words echoing in his brain. Hinata immediately regretted her joking manner after seeing how distressed he was.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, "But Neji, look at me." she said softly, gently turning his face with her small hands, lightly brushing her fingers against his cheek.

"I am no ghost." She told him softly but firmly. And how he wished that were true, but it couldn't, it just couldn't. When she saw that he still didn't believe her, she leaned forward, intending to lightly kiss him, but he leaned back away from her. Hesitation and suspicion grown in his eyes.

"You may not be a ghost, but you are not Hinata." Neji said, his voice becoming hard. "The Hinata I know is in love with Naruto, and wouldn't even dream of kissing someone else." He nearly growled at her.

"Neji, we've been through this. Naruto was just a crush." Hinata sighed with frustration.

"No we have not been through this!" Neji hissed, getting more and more angry. "We're not married. We don't have kids. You're not alive, you're dead! Hanabi had to become the heir but since she was too young Hiashi-sama had to come out of retirement to lead the clan again till she came of age…" Neji continued to ramble, being filled with confusion and panic again.

"Wait, wait, wait. Hanabi-chan isn't the heir, Hizashi is…and…" she suddenly found herself harshly pinned against the tree, Neji's eyes furious.

"What is that, some sick joke?! My father was _not_ the heir, though he should have been! _I_ should have been!" he yelled at her, rage consuming his mind and body.

"What?" Hinata looked at him with wide shocked eyes, "Ouch, no Neji! I wasn't talking about your father, I was talking about our son." She said urgently, beyond confused and a little hurt. Neji slowly relaxed as her words started to sink in, leaning away from her, releasing her from his strong grip. Hinata gingerly rubbed her shoulders while looking at him, perplexed.

"Hanabi-chan coming of age? How old do you think we are Neji?" she asked him.

"Twenty-one." He said, reminding her exactly how old he was. But a deep frown started to appear on her face, making him wary of his answer.

"But…Neji…that was twelve years ago." Hinata said softly. He stared at her, not wanting to believe, yet why would she lie? He knew she looked different, but he never would have guessed that it was because she was twelve years older.

"We…we were married eleven years ago. Well, almost, tomorrow will be our anniversary. Don't…don't you remember?" Hinata asked him, trying to keep her tears at bay, trying not to feel hurt that he would forget when they were going to celebrate their anniversary tomorrow.

"No…no I…but…the war…" he said aloud, trying to straighten everything out, trying to make sense of everything.

"Our wedding took place almost a year after the war." Hinata told him, panic and despair starting to take hold of her. He just sat there, looking so confused.

"You…you don't remember anything?" she asked, tears starting to fall from her eyes. But Neji's face was downcast, trying to figure things out, feeling so lost and alone, trying to keep himself sane.

"No." he said simply, softly. Hinata bit her lip and covered her face as she cried softly to herself. He could remember the far past, he obvious could remember his hatred towards her when he was younger, but he couldn't remember the first time he softly and reluctantly told her that he loved her. He couldn't remember the first time she told him that she loved him too. He couldn't remember the day their son was born, he couldn't remember how he felt when she told him that she named him after his father. He couldn't remember any of their happy times together. All he could remember was the war and her supposed death, and the animosity he held for her at the time.

"Why?" she asked softly, "Why can't you remember? Was it…was it the mission you just got back from?" she asked, feeling just as confused and lost as the man beside her. The man who looked just like her husband, who had the same name as her husband, but wasn't her husband. He was like a stranger to her now and they only got up just a half hour ago.

"I don't know. I don't remember going on any missions lately. Just the war, your death, and the year after. That's it." Neji replied, feeling exhausted. All this life and death and time skip and everything was starting to give him a headache. All of this was obviously caused by the girl who he was talking to the other day in front the of memorial stone. Either that or what she was saying was just coincidence, which he really didn't believe in.

"What I am I going to tell the children?" Hinata asked herself aloud, sighing deeply. She couldn't tell them that he wasn't their father when he didn't look any different than yesterday. But if he had no memory of them…she sighed again, she didn't know what she was going to do.

"They…they're really…" Neji stumbled, the subject of children was always awkward with him, let alone children that were supposedly made by him and Hinata.

"Yes. They are yours and mine." Hinata answered him, feeling a stab to her heart. They had gone through so many challenges and difficult times together but they pulled through, yet he couldn't remember a single one. When they were married it was arranged, she didn't love him and he didn't even like her. He had hated her and it had taken her months to gain his respect and almost a year to earn his love, and now she had to start all over again? To have his love for almost a decade, to see that side of him that no one else saw, and then suddenly have it ripped away from her…how was she supposed to deal for that? How was she supposed to react? What did she do to deserve such treatment? Sighing again, she pushed her mind away from the dark thoughts, determination building in her heart. She was not the same girl he remembered. She had been the leader of their clan ever since they were married. She was a skilled Jounin and a medic nin. She was different, older, wiser, and stronger; she would be able to get through this.

"Come on, we should be heading back. You can go ahead and get dressed and I'll…I'll talk to the children. I'll tell them…something." Hinata hesitated, wondering again just what she was going to say. Neji nodded and stood up, glad that she wasn't insisting that he be there when she talked to them. He didn't know how to talk to children, let alone ones that were supposedly his and Hinata's. Which he still found awkward, he never would have seen it coming. Sure she was built and all, but, he hated her. He just couldn't see himself do _that_ with her.

They walked back in silence both lost in their own thoughts and trying to make sense of it all. When they got back to the compound he headed towards the bedroom while she headed towards the courtyard, pausing as she watched her son train with his grandfather. He was exactly how Neji would have been had he grown up in a happy household. Hizashi was a serious child, taking his responsibilities as the older brother and heir seriously, but he also wasn't afraid to smile or laugh. Unlike how Neji grew up, Hizashi didn't harbor any kind of hatred, any animosity. And both Neji and Hinata made sure to raise him to see the Branch House as family, not just servants to be sacrificed for him.

"Hizashi-chan." Hinata called to him. Both Hiashi and Hizashi paused and turned towards her.

"Yes Kaa-san?" Hizashi answered back.

"Come inside, I need to speak with you and your sisters." Hinata said, waiting for him to respectively bow towards his grandfather and to find his sisters. Hiashi looked towards Hinata with curiosity, he knew she wouldn't interrupt their training session just for anything, he knew by her look that it was something important.

"Everything alright?" he asked her. Hinata hesitated, unsure if she should tell him about Neji's memory loss or not. Not wanting to appear as if she couldn't handle her own life and not wanting to spread rumors about him, she decided against taking her father into her confidence.

"Yes Tou-san, everything is fine." She said trying not to look guilty. She always had a difficult lying to anyone, let alone her father.

"Hinata, you've been able to change many things about yourself…but you've never been able to lie." Hiashi said, keeping his face neutral. He was now insanely curious as to what she was hiding. Defeated, Hinata lowered her head and sighed.

"Tou-san…please…do not ask me. I cannot tell you." Hinata urged him softly

"Is it about Neji?" He asked. She looked at him with surprise which confirmed his suspicions. But before she could ask, he answered the question he knew she was going to ask him.

"The girls were a bit upset about the way he was with them this morning." Hiashi explained. Hinata nodded her head, she had witnessed the scene. Neji was naturally a hard man but he was never so with the children when there wasn't reason. The girls probably thought they did something wrong that had upset him.

"Kaa-san!" they suddenly heard two childish voices crying from across the courtyard. Looking up, Hinata could see her two daughters, Hitomi and Haruko, running towards her looking upset with their brother trailing behind them. Quickly looking at Hiashi, she silently asked him for some privacy with her family. Understanding her, Hiashi nodded and turned away.

"I'll just go see what Hanabi is up to." He murmured softly. Turning back to her children, she watched as her daughters clung to her kimono asking her questions about Neji while Hizashi stood in the background, silent as his parents.

"Ssshh hush my daughters. That is what I want to talk to you about with Hizashi." Hinata told them, trying to quiet them down.

"Is Tou-san mad at us?" Hitomi, the seven year old, asked, worried.

"I'm sorry Tou-san." Haruko whispered into the folds of Hinata's kimono. Kneeling down, Hinata gently caressed Haruko's cheek.

"He's not mad at you, he's just…not feeling well." Hinata explained, hoping they would buy it.

"Will Tou-san be alright?" Hizashi asked, concerned. Hinata looked up at him.

"He'll be fine." She told him, relieving him of his worries.

"Does Tou-san need to see Sakura-oba-san?" Haruko asked, thinking of the only doctor-like person besides her mother.

"No honey, he's just having a hard time at work. So I want all of you to be extra good, okay?" Hinata said, looking into the eyes of each one of her children. All of them nodded. Satisfied, Hinata stood up again, ushering her children off to continue whatever they were doing before she called for them. Turning back, she headed for their bedroom, finding Neji sitting, dressed, on their bed with a pensive expression. He looked up once she closed the door and leaned against it.

"What did you tell…them?" Neji asked.

"Just that you were have a hard time at work." Hinata replied walking over to the bed and sitting next to him, but making sure not to touch him. It seemed he didn't like her touching him anymore.

"Would…would you like to know about them?" she asked softly, hardly believing her own words. Neji just looked at her, but didn't say no. Taking his silence as a 'yes' she continued.

"Hizashi's ten and he just graduated from the Academy. He'll be meeting his sensei tomorrow. He's…he's a lot like…his father." She supplied, as opposed to saying 'you'. "Hitomi's seven, she's more like me, is still learning how to master her Byakugan. Whereas Haruko, she's four, she's been learning how to control it. All of them though, show great promise." Hinata told him softly. She would have added that he should be proud of them, but she didn't think he would feel that way.

Neji remained silent as while she spoke softly of these children, which were supposedly his. He inwardly shook his head. Just yesterday he was in his somewhat normal, if not, depressing life, and now he was a father of three and Hinata's husband. Her husband! And by the way he woke up this morning, by the way she acted, and the atmosphere of the compound, it didn't seem as if their supposed marriage was as he would have thought it would be. It seemed that in this lifetime he didn't hate her, he didn't lay the blame of Fate's mistake on her; in fact it was as if he was expected to…_love_…her.

"Maybe…maybe we should go speak with Hokage-sama about…this." Hinata said, interrupting his thoughts. Turning his head to look at her, her thoughtful expression was pointed straight ahead, not at him. "Maybe he'll know what to do." Neji could feel a small twitch in his eye at her mentioning the Hokage being a man.

"Naruto?" he asked her, wondering.

"Yes." She answered, finally looking at him. Neji smirked as his gaze wandered from hers. It seems that no matter what lifetime he was in, Naruto was destined to be the Hokage. At least that hadn't changed from the time and life he had lived yesterday, at least there was some sort of constant between the two. Agreeing with her idea, Neji nodded and stood heading towards the door.

"Wait!" Hinata cried softly, leaping up from the bed. Annoyed for delaying him, he turned a cool gaze towards her, making her stop short. To her, it had been years since she had seen that expression directed towards her. It sent a cold sharp stab to her heart confirming once again that her beloved husband was no longer with her and that in his place was a man who only held contempt for her.

"I…I have…a-a request." She stumbled and stuttered. It had been years since she had done that, but she once again felt nervous and unconfident around a man that, unknowingly, held her heart in his icy hands.

"What?" he asked, quick and sharp. He didn't have time for this, he wanted to know everything he could about what was going on. He liked this change of reality even less that the one he was in just yesterday. Yes he regretted her death and yes he wanted that off his shoulders, but he didn't think he wanted it badly enough to, not only have her back, but married to him as well. No, the reality he was in was better than this. Loneliness and darkness and _order_ was better than this chaotic world with her by his side.

"Please…don't….don't tell anyone about this. Especially to the children." Hinata pleaded softly. Neji crossed his arms and looked at her pitiful form with harsh eyes.

"Don't insult me Hinata-sama. I am not as stupid as that." He said with a hard edge to his voice. Hinata looked away and fought back the tears that once again threatened her eyes. Her chest tightened with pain and anguish at the way he spoke to her, treated her, he was reducing her to her younger weaker self. It was his love that had made her stronger than ever, and without it, she felt as if she was once again powerless and weak.

"Is that all you had to say?" Neji asked impatiently.

"Yes." She whispered.

"Then let's go." he said before walking out the door.

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AN: OMG I am so sorry that it took me forever to upload this. I kept meaning to but with my computer out of admission, I couldn't even turn it on to retrieve my files. I hope you guys like this chapter as well as the others. I'm so excited that you guys are interested in this lil story of mine. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. I wouldn't mind getting more, lol. Anyways enjoy and I promise that I won't take as long to upload the next chapter. Ja!


	5. Fate's Advice

Chapter 5: Fate's Advice

_"Please…don't….don't tell anyone about this. Especially to the children." Hinata pleaded softly. Neji crossed his arms and looked at her pitiful form with harsh eyes._

_"Don't insult me Hinata-sama. I am not as stupid as that." He said with a hard edge to his voice. Hinata looked away and fought back the tears that once again threatened her eyes. Her chest tightened with pain and anguish at the way he spoke to her, treated her, he was reducing her to her younger weaker self. It was his love that had made her stronger than ever, and without it, she felt as if she was once again powerless and weak._

_"Is that all you had to say?" Neji asked impatiently._

_"Yes." She whispered._

_"Then let's go." he said before walking out the door._

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The walk to the Hokage tower was silent and the air between them filled with tension. It seemed to take a lot longer than either of them remembered; Neji hating himself for feeling so insecure and lost, he was not in control, and he detested that. Hinata couldn't remember the last time there was such tension between them. Of course they had their fights and arguments just like any other married couple, but she never had to question on whether or not he still loved her. She knew he always would, but now…now that he was different…she felt so scared. Why did this happen? Did she have the strength and courage to have his love ripped from her and starting over again? She didn't know, she wanted to, but she wasn't sure. He was so different than the man she had been married to for over a decade, yet looking just like him…sometimes it was hard to remember that it wasn't him anymore.

After what felt like eternity, they stood in front of the office door, waiting for Naruto to finish talking with what sounded like Sakura. Neji struggled slightly at keeping his face neutral and emotionless. Sakura was alive as well? Who else had been brought back to life? Was everything going to be so different? It seemed that the Hyuuga compound wasn't the only place that had changed. Suddenly the pink haired kunoichi stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind her looking angry. But when she turned her head to see the two people she was about to run into she stopped and smiled happily.

"Naruto can be such an idiot sometimes neh?" she said with a chuckle and then left. Neji watched her leave from the corner of his eye, _maybe things aren't so different after all._

"Neji." Hinata called to him softly, already walking inside. Hearing her, he turned his attention to his top priority; finding out what the hell was going on and figuring out a way to go back to his normal life.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto cried happily as he looked up, running around his desk and giving her a big hug. "I hardly ever get to see you anymore!" Hinata smiled awkwardly as she lightly hugged him back.

"How's running that clan of yours?" Naruto asked, stepping back and looking to both of them. Neji however turned surprised eyes towards Hinata. She was the leader of their clan?!

"Exhausting Naruto-kun, but worth it." Hinata said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Neji and her both lead the clan, but now that he had lost his memory, she had a sinking feeling that things weren't going to go as smoothly as she wanted.

"Cha, yeah I bet." Naruto said with a sour look, which was then quickly replaced with an excited smile. "So where are the kids? I get to keep them today and tomorrow right? Right?" Hinata bit her lip and looked towards Neji who avoided her gaze.

"Actually Naruto-kun, we came here to talk to you about that." Hinata said hesitantly. Naruto's smile vanished as he crossed his arms over his chest and pouted.

"Don't tell me that you got someone else to look over them for your anniversary!" he whined loudly. Hinata griped the ends of her sleeved tightly in her hands to stop herself from poking her fingers together nervously. A habit she had managed to get rid up, but with much difficulty.

"We…I…umm…" Hinata stumbled, "we…won't be…celebrating our umm…anniversary." Naruto uncrossed his arms and looking at her and then Neji with concern. Ever since Neji and Hinata had children, they would allow their kids to be watch over from one of the Rookie Nine every year on their anniversary, and now it was finally Naruto's turn to look over their children. The news that they wouldn't be celebrating their anniversary, which they did every year, worried him a little.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked seriously, the Hokage side of him coming out. He watched as Hinata looked nervously to Neji who was looking out the window, acting as if he was ignoring both of them.

"Well…uumm…Neji he…uuhh…lost his memory somehow. I…we…were hoping you could help us Naruto-kun." Hinata said softly, slowly, unsure of what to say.

"I didn't lose my memory, if I've never done any of the things you claim I've done." Neji argued boredly but with a hard edge to his voice as he glared at the small woman beside him.

"Wait wait wait, hold on." Naruto said with a confused look. He walked back to his desk and sat down. Looking at both of them but mostly at Neji, he got serious.

"Start at the beginning."

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Naruto sat back tiredly staring at the estranged couple before him. Personally he felt sad for both of them, especially for Hinata. He could tell she was stressing about this and probably suffering too. He could remember the first months of their marriage, he could remember how rocky it was, how sad she looked at the time. And now it was as if time had turned and she was back to her insecure and nervous self. He could only imagine the pain she was going through at waking up next to her beloved only to find out that his memory was erased and their love gone. And Neji, he wasn't sure how to feel for him. Sadness, though weighed heavily on his heart when he listed to Neji talking about the world, the time, that he remembered. It seemed so desolate, so dreary with more than half his friends gone. But from a business point of view, he was worried. Neji was one of his best ANBU captains and though he just got back from a mission the day before, he had never mentioned being attacked or hit with some kind of weird jutsu that would do this. Naruto was at a loss, he didn't know what caused it or how to counter it. But he did know that Neji would have to sit out on missions for a while.

"Well…" Naruto started out slowly, "one thing's obvious. You'll be taking a leave of absence from missions Neji, for a while too." Neji's eyes turned to ice and clenched his fists, fighting to remain cool instead of slamming his fists into Naruto's desk like he really wanted to. Naruto could see just how angry he was, but he expected it and understood it.

"Heh, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you're not arguing with me about it. I guess your genius mind already knew that it would be dangerous if I sent you out on a mission right now." Naruto said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. Neji looked away, of course he knew that it wouldn't be wise to send him out on missions right now. If twelve years really had passed without his knowing, he didn't know just how powerful he's gotten, he could easily lose control and hurt someone. But that didn't mean he was happy with the idea of being stuck at home apparently married to a woman he hated.

"I honestly, though, don't know what to do with your memory loss. But I think it would be best if you go see Tsunade-obaa-chan. She might have some kind of cure or something." Naruto told Hinata, since Neji seemed to be ignoring him at the moment.

"Other than that…I suggest living this life as best you could Neji. Try adjusting, it couldn't hurt." Naruto advised, looking to Hinata. He wanted to help her as best he could, he see she was hurting and he wanted to help their relationship to where it was before this whole memory loss thing.

"Thank you Naruto-kun." Hinata said softly, she knew and was grateful for what he was trying to do and she only wished that it truly would help. But Neji remained silent and started to turn back towards the door now that things were as clear as they were going to get for him. He was still pissed though, all he was supposed to do was sit around waiting for memories that wouldn't come and try to be someone he's not. Stupid.

"Go back home, I feel like training on my own." Neji told her as soon as they stepped out of Naruto's office.

"But we were supposed to go see…" Hinata interjected, a look of concern on her face.

"I said I want to be alone." Neji growled fiercely at her, looking at her with anger in his eyes. Hinata took a step back, knowing full well just what he was capable of. It had been years since she was afraid of him, afraid that he would hurt her, but now…now she wasn't sure what he would do to her.

Nodding her head, she slowly backed away from him and then turned to head back home, alone, scared and sad. Neji watched her walk away, feeling cold inside. He knew he shouldn't have yelled at her, he knew she was only trying to help him, but all the confusion in his life right now was killing him. He hated not knowing things that concerned him even more than he hated her. Sighing deeply he turned to head in the opposite direction towards his old genin training grounds. The walk there was slow and long, giving him time to continue to figure out what happened and what he's going to do about it. Or, at least, what he might be able to do about it. Things seem to be out of his hands.

Lifting his arms, he looked down at the scared and battered hands that he continued to wrap up. The weapons he used in battle that could be deadlier than a kunai. The last things that had touched her when she died in his arms. He couldn't do anything to save her then. And he wasn't able to do anything about his future now. Anger rose within him as his hands fisted. He felt powerless and weak, unable to control anything around him. He was born a slave, and he would always remain a slave.

"That isn't true you know." A soft voice said to him. Looking up, he noticed that he was standing in the middle of the training grounds. A woman with brown eyes and long brown hair stood in front of him, her expression was blank but her eyes were sad. He remained silent as he studied her; she somehow seemed a little familiar. The woman didn't repeat what she said, knowing full well that he heard her. She lowered her eyes for a minute before returning his gaze.

"You told me that you wished things were different. Well this is my gift to you." she said to him slowly and seriously. Neji's eyes widened slightly in surprise as he realized that she was the little girl he had spoken to yesterday in front of the memorial stone.

"I knew you were behind this. What the hell did you do to me?" Neji hissed with anger.

"Why are you so upset Neji? I'm giving you what you want for once." Fate sighed deeply as if exhausted.

"I never said I wanted this." He argued, his voice as hard as his pale gaze. But her eyes became just as hard and unyielding as his. A cool breeze that he could not feel started to blow around her, catching her hair and making it fly.

"You don't seem to realize just how lucky you are." She replied. "How many others do you know are lucky enough to receive a second chance?"

"This is not a second chance, this is just another hell. One that is worse than the one I was already in." He shot back at her.

"So are you telling me you would prefer her dead?" Fate asked haughtily.

"I'm telling you I prefer _order_, instead of chaos." Neji said furiously. Brown eyes bored into white, anger swirling within the depths of both. Yet one held more power than the other, one held more anger than the other, and one held more pain than the other. A blinding light flashed out of her eyes and Neji suddenly found himself back on that field a year ago. He could hear the battle sounds in the background, he could feel the weight of her limp body in his arms, and he could see the small smile she had on her face. The scent of blood overwhelmed his senses and her last words echoed in his mind, stronger and stronger every passing second. His eyes widened and his body froze. He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe.

"_She deserves to die…What a weakling…I should be heir, not her…She should die…She should die…She should die…She should die!"_ He could hear his voice saying over and over again, a deadly chant that never faded away. Neji could feel himself shaking his head. _No…I didn't…I didn't really…I…I…_

"_Neji."_ Broken out of his trance by the soft familiar voice, he looked down only to see Hinata's dead body come alive. She remained in his arms, limp and unmoving but her eyes were open, and in them a light he knew that wasn't life.

"_Neji…my cousin…my friend."_ His eyes widened more, horrified by the sight. _"Neji…my friend…my friend…my friend."_ Her voice continued to say, getting louder and louder in his head mixing with his own words.

"_My friend…She should die…My friend…She should die…Friend…Die…Friend…Die…FRIEND…DIE!!!"_ A horrified and guilty yell suddenly burst from his mouth, unable to take the regret weighted down upon him. It was all his fault. He was responsible for her death, she died because of him. It was all his fault. It was all his fault!

Then in a flash the nightmare was gone and he was back in the middle of the training grounds standing in front of the being that forced him back into the past. Neji fell to his knees, dry heaving since there was no food in his stomach this time to get rid of. But the images and vision remained in his mind, haunting him, driving him crazy. Fate looked down on him, pity filling her brown eyes. Time was her sibling, she has lived just as long, she has seen and known all the pain and suffering that everyone has gone through. She has watched it all. She, along with her brother Time, carried the weight of the world and all the troubles it has gone through. Lowering down, Fate crouched to his level, placing a gentle hand upon his head.

"Remember Neji, this is your second chance, this is your only chance to change things. Don't take it for granted." She advised before standing up. Lifting his head, Neji watched her back away from him. When she was a few yards away, she stopped and smiled softly, a smile that reminded him of Hinata.

"Take my word for it Neji, fate is never set in stone. Your will power, your actions, everything you do has an affect on your fate. And miracles _do_ happen." She said as she slowly faded away into nothingness.

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AN: w00t! An update that didn't take months! I hope you guys like this chapter. I was stuck forever on it, when Neji walks out of the Hokage office saying that he wants to be alone. I couldn't think of what to do after that! But I hope what I came up with in the end is cool with you guys. Please keep the lovely reviews coming, they warm my heart so much and helps inspire me to continue writing. See you guys in the next chappie! Ja!


	6. Changes and Children

Chapter 6: Changes and Children

"_Remember Neji, this is your second chance, this is your only chance to change things. Don't take it for granted." She advised before standing up. Lifting his head, Neji watched her back away from him. When she was a few yards away, she stopped and smiled softly, a smile that reminded him of Hinata._

"_Take my word for it Neji, fate is never set in stone. Your will power, your actions, everything you do has an affect on your fate. And miracles do happen." She said as she slowly faded away into nothingness._

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Feeling exhausted, mentally and physically, Neji slowly made his way back to the compound. The woman's words repeating in his mind. He had never really thought of this lifetime being a second chance. To him, it was a nightmare. A world where _she_ was alive, haunting him in the flesh instead of as a spirit. He could've handled her spirit haunting him, he could've handled living with the guilt and emptiness. But having her alive, and haunting him in the flesh, he was afraid. The great Hyuuga genius was afraid of a weak little girl, afraid that she would find out how guilty he was and how empty he had felt. Afraid that she would use that knowledge against him like how he used her weakness against her. But a second chance? Could that really be what this was? A chance for him to relieve the weight upon his soul? But why did he have to be _married_ to her? Why did they have to have three children? That would only make things harder for him to make it up to her; feeling so awkward. He wasn't the man she knew, he didn't want to be the man she knew. He just didn't want to feel guilty anymore. He didn't want her death to hang upon him anymore. _I guess, in a way, I just want her forgiveness._

Walking into the compound he took his time to actually look at his surroundings. The compound didn't look any different really, but the atmosphere was not the same. It was lighter, less tension filling the air, stifling its occupants. He could only suppose that it was due to Hinata's influence. If she were really the clan's leader. But that idea itself felt wrong to him. Why would the clan make her leader? She was totally incapable. The only conclusion he could come up with, was so that the council would have full power, through her. Yet, that conclusion couldn't be correct. If the council had full power of the clan, then the atmosphere would be worse. So then, was she actually able to maintain her power as leader? Was she actually doing well as leader? He found it difficult to believe, but he could just look around to see the proof.

"Excuse, Neji-sama?" a voice interrupted his thoughts. "Hinata-sama says that she would like to see you." the Branch member said before going her own way.

"Wait." Neji called quickly, "Take me to her." He said, he wasn't exactly sure where Hinata was and didn't want anyone else to even suspect his 'memory loss'. The servant nodded her head before leading him to Hiashi's office. Hiding his confusion, he thanked her before knocking.

"Come in." he heard Hinata's voice say. _So I guess this is Hinata's office now._ Walking in, he noticed that things in this room didn't look any different except instead of seeing Hiashi behind a desk it was Hinata. She looked up as soon as he walked in and could already feel her nervousness in the pit of her stomach. But she smiled hesitantly and stood up.

"I was wondering…if you're feeling up to it…if you…might want to…go over some of the changes to the clan." Hinata invited, "Kind of…to show you what we were able to accomplish together." She said in a small voice. She was still nervous saying anything thing like 'together', 'we', or 'our'. Though she sensed a difference in him, a slight difference, she still felt like she was treading on eggshells around him.

"Together?" he repeated, quirking a brow. He thought that she was the leader, and that the clan would totally cut him off even though they married him to her. But Hinata nodded silently, lifting her arm in an invitation to sit. Walking forward he sat opposite her, watching her.

"Yes. Tou-san had suggested to me, just before I became leader, to appoint you as…well….second-in-command. The council was furious and refused, but the decision was mine to make. It was the first time a…Branch member had so much power within the clan." Hinata said softly, not sure if he would scold her for calling him a Branch member. To the Main House he still was, but to the Branch House, he had transitioned. Neji nodded in understanding though he was surprised. Surprised by Hiashi's suggestion, Hinata's acceptance of it, and her being able to pull it off as well.

"So that's what you mean by together." Neji said, his voice neutral. Hinata looked down but a small smile played about her lips as she nodded.

"That was my first…well…my only decision that I made on my own. The rest was more between us…and the council." She said, thinking back to that time. She had felt scared at the time, going against the council on her very first decision, but she was relieved at the same time. She had actually stood up to them, she had shown them that she wasn't going to be a weak leader that they could manipulate. Mentally shaking her head to get herself back to the present, she grabbed a stack of papers that she had put aside earlier. Placing the stack between them, she started to summarize what they contained.

"Our…uh…first and so far biggest accomplishment was getting rid of the law that stated that all Branch members were to receive the curse mark. So far we haven't been able to find a way to take the curse mark off, but…for eleven years, there hasn't been a single Branch House child that has received it." Hinata stated, looking Neji in the eye with all seriousness. Neji felt as if he couldn't move, or even believe what she was saying.

"The rest of our accomplishments are small, compared to that." Hinata added. Neji stared at her trying to fully comprehend what she said. It was so difficult to believe, but he could see that she wasn't lying. He remained silent, allowing her to go on.

For the rest of the day they went over the most recent history of their clan. Hinata explaining a little bit more in detail of all they had done. Though, she wanted to take a break several times, knowing that he still hasn't eaten anything, but he insisted on knowing as much as he could as fast as he could. And since no one else in the clan knew of his condition, Hinata was the only one that could show him, teach him. He had learned that though seal hasn't been able to be removed, they had placed a law stated that none of the Main House members were allowed to activate the seal, lest they want the seal to be put on themselves. Neji could imagine how furious the Main House and the council was and he was surprised that she was actually able to pull off, though he could also imagine that there were probably some who still opposed and broke this new law.

Knock. Knock.

Both of them suddenly looked up and at the door. Hinata paused for a moment wondering if she should let anyone enter, but since Neji was so experience with hiding his emotions, she figured that he could probably hide his condition as well.

"Come in." she called. They watched as the door opened to reveal Hizashi, their son and oldest child. He walked in hesitantly, feeling as if he was interrupting something important.

"Excuse, Tou-san, Kaa-san. I apologize for interrupting, but Natsumi and Akira are here, and they are wondering if we could go out tonight. To get to know each other better." Hizashi explained looking to his parents. Neji could feel his stomach churning again, there was no doubt that this boy was his son. He looked and sounded just like himself. It made him feel weird that he was now a father, that he actually had children and that he had to take care of them.

"Just don't stay out too late, you have to meet your sensei tomorrow." Hinata reminded her son.

"I understand." Hizashi replied with all the seriousness of his father, but then smiled. A smile he inherited from his mother.

"Thanks Kaa-san." He said before walking away. But before he was out the door, he turned back around and looked to Neji.

"Tou-san, are you feeling any better?" Hizashi asked, concerned. Neji could feel his body stiffen being the center of the boy's attention and having to actually respond to him. Hiding his awkward feelings, Neji nodded once, remaining silent. However that was nothing strange to the boy. Feeling relieved that his father seemed back to normal, he nodded back to his father before walking out and closing the door behind him.

As soon as Hizashi left, Neji could feel himself become relieved, though for obvious different reasons. He looked to Hinata only to find her looking back at him. What was once an almost comfortable air between them, now only felt awkward. After a few seconds they both looked away, uncomfortable silence filling the room. Minutes passed before either of them said anything.

"So…that's our son." Neji stated, more of a question though instead of a statement.

"Yes, that's Hizashi." Hinata confirmed for him, wondering if he forgot her telling him their son's name. "He's shaping up to be the next Hyuuga prodigy." She said with a proud smile, her gaze turned inward, thinking about her son. Neji watched her inconspicuously for several silent minutes before he spoke up.

"Hinata-sama…may I ask you a question?" he said quietly, slowly standing. Hinata watched him and slowly stood herself, curiosity filling her eyes. She felt a bit surprised however to hear him ask her permission to ask her a question.

"You may." She replied just as softly.

"Why _did_ you take Hiashi-sama's suggestion?" Neji asked, his face downcast, filled with different thoughts. Hinata knew what he was asking, why did she make him her second-in-command. Her gaze lowered as she thought about her answer, silent for a while.

"Because I knew, with your help, we could change the clan together, to get rid of that cursed seal." Hinata replied honestly. Neji looked up and studied her, confusion still clouding his eyes.

"Why would you care to get rid of it? Why would the Heiress of the Main House want to?" he asked, and though his words were harsh and cruel sounding, his voice was not. It was as if he really wanted to understand her. Hinata's heart thrilled in her chest, it was a small step, but it gave her hope. Hope that he was warming up to her.

"Is it so hard to believe that I would want to get rid of it?" she asked softly.

"Yes." Neji replied, "I'm assuming that it was a long while after we were married that you…were able to get along with…the other me…And yet getting rid of that stupid law was the first thing that you changed when you became leader. Why would you bother? Why would you care? You had no reason to care?" Neji explained to her.

"Really? I beg to differ." Hinata said before turning her back to him and wrapping her arms about herself. "I don't know about you…but I can remember a time when we were friends. When there was caring between us…before we were married." She said, bringing both of their minds back to a time when they were children. When she was a small girl with a shy admiration for her older cousin, when he was a little boy with an innocent crush on her.

"I wanted to change things because…because though I was invisible, I could see how much you suffered. I could see how much pain you had felt, all because of that horrid curse. I…didn't want you to suffer anymore." Hinata admitted, her voice thick with emotion and tears filling in her eyes. "I…wanted to…help you reach your goal. I didn't…want you to…feel caged anymore." She finished, putting her face in her hands to muffle her tears from the pain in her heart. Neji looked away from her, unsure of what to do. He had never imagined that's how she had felt. No, that wasn't true. He knew, she had told him in the Chuunin exams…and it infuriated him. He thought she was saying that to try and point out his position in the clan, that she was trying to say that though he was stronger than her and more powerful than her physically, in the clan she had more power than him. But that wasn't what she was saying, she was actually sincere with her words. She was actually sorry and felt bad for what he had gone through.

A whole different kind of guilt started to fill in his heart. She had never deserved his hatred. She had never deserved his anger. She had never deserved the dark wish his heart had made to bring about her death. She had never deserved any of it. How could he ever earn her forgiveness? How was it possible that she had ever found happiness with him? How was she able to go on smiling like she had? Why did she call him friend?

"Neji, what's wrong?" Hinata asked. Looking back at her, he could see her concerned expression, yet her eyes were still wet and red from her own tears. How could she care so much?

"Nothing." He said, turning away, heading towards the door. He paused though, just before walking out.

"Hinata…I'm sorry."

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As Neji walked out, he could feel a weight being lifted off his shoulders. He had apologized to her. Not to her grave, not to her spirit, but to her. He had actually done it, and he felt much lighter for it. He wondered if she knew what he had apologized for, but for the moment he was just glad that he was able to do it. He had swallowed his pride and apologized to her. It's not always easy to do that to someone you had detested for nearly your whole life, and so he felt a little accomplished for doing so. Maybe this was a second chance, maybe this wasn't just another hell, maybe he could change things. But for now, he'll just head over to the kitchen and get something to eat, he was starving. His stomach was reminding him that he hasn't eaten all day.

Heading over to the kitchen, he was glad to find that place hadn't moved either, though he couldn't think of a reason of why it would be moved. It was just nice seeing things that were similar to the world and life he remembered. However it seemed that the kitchen was already occupied and not just by anyone, but by two small girls he recognized as the other two children that 'belonged' to him. He stopped in the doorway and watched them for a few minutes. They seemed to be making something together. The older one, Hitomi as he recalled, seemed to be making some kind of joke that was making her younger sister, Haruko, laugh. They were both happy and smiling, their forehead bare from any seal. Seeing that, an unnamed emotion filled in Neji's heart. Children that should be marked, children that should belong to the Branch House, his children…were free. Unlike him or his father, they were not caged birds, they were not born slaves. They remained free.

He had never really entertained any thoughts about children, but he had always assumed that if he were ever to get married, it would probably have to be to another Branch House member. And if he were ever to have kids, they would be marked just like him, they would be slaves just like him, they would be caged birds just like him. Yet, in this life, he was married but not to a Branch House member. Instead it was to the Heiress herself, and his children were not slaves, they were free. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks as he continued to watch to two sisters, leaving him almost breathless.

"Tou-san!" Haruko cried with a smile, running over to him and hugging his leg, bringing him out of his thoughts. Hitomi turned at her sister's exclamation and smiled at him.

"Tou-san we made you lunch." She said happily. Haruko nodded her head vigorously and looked up at him with a giant smile.

"I, I gots the orange for you." she said with a sense of accomplishment. Neji stiffened as soon as she had touched him. He looked down at her, unsure of what to do or say. Bending down he slowly and gently extracted himself away from her, unlike earlier that morning.

"Uh…good job." He said to her awkwardly. Then standing up he looked to Hitomi and thanked her just as awkwardly.

"Your welcome, Kaa-san had said that we should be extra good, so we thought we could make you lunch, since you missed breakfast." Hitomi explained, picking up a plateful of food and walking over to the dinning room and setting it down onto a table. Neji followed her and Haruko followed him, excited and happy that she helped do something that was considered 'extra good' for her father. Pausing before the table, Neji slowly sat down in front of the dish.

"Here you go Tou-san." Haruko said with enthusiasm as she held up a pair of chopsticks for him. Neji hesitantly took them from her, trying to look as normal as possible. But it was difficult since both girls were blatantly staring at him, waiting to see if he would like what they had put together for him. Looking at his food with a little trepidation, he tentatively started to eat while the girls silently watched him closely for his response.

"Do you like it?" Haruko asked, tugging on his sleeve. Neji turned and for the first time that day, he smiled.

"Yes, it's really good." He said to both of them. Hitomi smiled with accomplishment and Haruko cried with a 'Yay!' as she hugged his arm. Neji could feel himself stiffen again but at the same time, he could feel his heart beat a little faster and a wave of protectiveness washed over him. He looked down on the little girl wrapped around his arm and knew somewhere in his mind and heart, that he would do anything to keep her safe. Then glancing up at the softly smiling Hitomi, he knew that he would do the same to protect her. He couldn't explain it and he didn't understand it, he had just met these kids of his that he had not memory of, yet he knew that he would give his life to protect them.

"Well I need to get back to training. I'm glad you like it Tou-san. Bye." Hitomi said before getting up and leaving the room.

"Bye nee-san." Haruko waved with one hand, keeping the other wrapped around Neji's arm. Then turned and looked up at him with obvious admiration and love in her big pale eyes. Neji could feel his awkwardness growing in the pit of his stomach. He was not the father she knew and remembered, yet she looked at him that way. He didn't know what to say to her, she just stood there hanging on his arm staring at him.

"Do you want some?" he offered her, unsure of what else to say to someone who was just going to watch him eat. But she just continued to look at him, shaking her head no. At a loss of what else to do or say, he just went back to his food and ate silently, ignoring her. But she seemed content just to watch him, and after a few minutes, let go of his arm. Neji felt relieved after that, but then stiffened again when instead of leaving she just crawled into his lap, making herself comfortable. He was sitting with his legs crossed, making a nice little seat for her. Leaning back, he could feel her small body pressed against his front. She turned slightly and grabbed the front of shirt in her tiny fists.

"Love you Tou-san." She whispered as she closed her eyes and started to fall asleep. Neji froze, his mind a complete blank and his chest warm from her soft words. This child had complete trust in him, unfailing faith in him, he had never received that from anyone. It made him uncomfortable and yet happy at the same time. He continued eating, trying not to move too much so he wouldn't wake her. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he could already feel a growing attachment to her.

Hinata walked in just as he was finishing, she smiled and giggled softly at the sight. Neji with his stiff and awkwardly straight back, cradling a sleeping Haruko, it was one of the cutest scenes she had ever witnessed. It reminded her of the first time he had held Hizashi in his arms. Anyone could have seen how uncomfortable he was holding the baby in his arms, but when Hizashi looked up and smiled at him for the first time, you could see the protectiveness in Neji's stance and the possessiveness in his eyes. It warmed Hinata's heart to see Neji like that now with their youngest child. Despite the fact that he didn't remember her or know her at all, it was his child and already he was acting the father. She was filled with relief and happiness to know that he accepted them as his.

"It was time for her nap anyways." Hinata whispered as she walked over to him. He looked up and watched as Hinata bent to pick up Haruko, cradling the sleeping child in her arms.

"I hope she wasn't disturbing you." Hinata whispered again, looking at Neji with concern. But he just shook his head as his eyes remained glued to the sleeping girl.

"No, her and Hitomi made me lunch." He whispered back, his words making Hinata smile. He watched her turn and walk out of the room, most likely to put Haruko to bed. Once gone, he looked back down at the now empty plate feeling satisfied and yet and little strange. He always felt that way around children but what he couldn't figure out was why he felt such a strong and quick attraction to the girl and her sister. Sure they were his, but why would that fact alone make him feel this way? He didn't know and was pretty sure that he wasn't going to find out any time soon. Clearing his place, he wondered what other surprises were in store for him in this chaotic but suddenly appealing world.

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AN: Aww don't you love me? I made the chapter longer. Someone reviewed saying that the children were probably going to affect him, and I hadn't thought of that. It inspired me so I just had to write something with the kids. I hope you guys like it so far. It might take me a little longer to update the next chapter, because I didn't like how the story was going so I had to delete all the future chapters and start over. So I apologize beforehand and hope you guys understand. But reviews always help me write faster and inspire me more. So the more reviews, the faster I'll update…hehehe hope it doesn't sound like I'm begging. Ja ne!


	7. End Of The First Day

Chapter 7: End Of The First Day

_"I hope she wasn't disturbing you." Hinata whispered again, looking at Neji with concern. But he just shook his head, as his eyes remained glued to the sleeping girl._

_"No, her and Hitomi made me lunch." He whispered back, his words making Hinata smile. He watched her turn and walk out of the room, most likely to put Haruko to bed. Once gone, he looked back down at the now empty plate feeling satisfied and yet and little strange. He always felt that way around children but what he couldn't figure out was why he felt such a strong and quick attraction to the girl and her sister. Sure they were his, but why would that fact alone make him feel this way? He didn't know and was pretty sure that he wasn't going to find out any time soon. Clearing his place, he wondered what other surprises were in store for him in this chaotic but suddenly appealing world._

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"So tell me what Natsumi and Akira are like? Do you like them?" Hinata asked her son as she was preparing dinner. She had finished with her paperwork for the day, but Neji insisted on reading everything she had told him about earlier that day. She wasn't sure if he would finish by the time she was done cooking, but she was making extra just in case. Hizashi had just got back from meeting and getting to know his new teammates, and was standing in the doorway; leaning against the frame and watching his mother.

"Yeah, they're cool. Natsumi, her family can manipulate light to turn themselves and their weapons invisible. She can do it, but she's a bit on the loud side. Wouldn't matter if she were invisible if the enemy can hear her. And Akira, he likes using genjutsu a lot and he's pretty good at it. Overall, I think we can be a pretty strong team." He explained to her. Hinata looked up from her cooking to gaze at him, a smirk playing about her lips.

"And so are you the leader?" she asked with a smile in her voice. Hizashi smiled back at her then crossed his arms and stuck his nose up in the air.

"Of course, a Hyuuga must be strong and intelligent and therefore the leader of his team." He said with a jokingly arrogant voice. Hinata chuckled at his antics yet remembered that she was quite the opposite when she was his age. She was thankful that she was able to change herself to become the Hyuuga her son described.

"Your father and I are very proud of you." she said to him with a sincere and serious smile. Hizashi uncrossed his arms and looked at her with the seriousness that he inherited from his father, nodding his head.

"I know." He replied, feeling the love and care that his mother radiated. He again marveled at the difference between his parents. He knew his father loved and cared for him as well, but Hizashi knew that his father was naturally a hard and distant man. There were only rare times when his father was ever playful with him, but Hizashi knew that he cared, even though his father rarely voiced it. Whereas his mother, sometimes she seemed so delicate like the flowers she enjoyed in the gardens. But she also seemed strong in her own way, hardly ever losing her patience and never truly getting upset. Usually when around others Hizashi would act more like his father, but when he was around his mother, he found it difficult to remain so. He sometimes wondered how his father could…

"Hey kiddo!" a female voice suddenly cried from behind him along with a hand coming down onto his head and ruffling up his hair.

"How are those new teammates of yours?" Hanabi asked with a smirk as she continued to annoy her nephew. Hizashi quickly swatted her hand away with an annoyed expression as he moved away from her.

"They're fine Hanabi-oba-san." Hizashi answered her. Hanabi smiled and moved closer to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and bringing him close.

"Yeah I saw. And I noticed you checking out that teammate of yours, she's pretty cute huh?" Hanabi teased him. Hizashi looked at her like she was out of her mind.

"That's not true." He argued with her.

"What? That you were checking her out or that she's cute?" Hanabi asked with a playful sneer.

"Both!" he finally cried at his mischievous aunt before leaving the room with a huff. Hanabi just laughed and grabbed an apple from the counter, watching her sister finish her cooking.

"Ah man your kid cracks me up." She said with a smile. Hinata smiled ruefully back at her but with a reprimand in her eyes.

"You really shouldn't tease him like that. He's only ten." Hinata lectured her sister as she set the dishes on the table and started cleaning up the remnants of her cooking.

"What on Earth are you talking about? You had a crush on Naruto-san when you were _eight_." Hanabi reminded her, "So then why wouldn't he have a crush when he's ten?"

"Hanabi-chan, that's totally different!" Hinata cried, her cheeks becoming their famous pink color.

"Is not!" Hanabi argued before laughing at her sister's complexion. Hearing it, Hinata turned around and narrowed her eyes.

"So how are things with Konahamaru?" Hinata asked with a suddenly innocent expression. Hanabi's face suddenly turned pink at the mention of his name, then crossed her arms and turned her face away with a huff.

"There's nothing going on with _him_." She said angrily. Hinata looked at her and sighed deeply.

"You guys got in a fight _again_?" Hinata asked, though she only sounded partially surprised. Hanabi remained silent, refusing to answer her question.

"I think I'm going to go find that son of yours." She said before storming off out of the kitchen. Hinata just shook her head as she put Neji's food on a tray. Picking it up, she headed towards her office and knocked softly.

"Enter." She heard him say from inside. Opening the door, she smiled hesitantly at him.

"I thought you might be hungry." She said softly as she entered. Neji looked up from a pile of papers on her desk. He had finished going through only five years worth of accounts and didn't want to be interrupted, but nevertheless; was grateful of the small break and the food she had brought. He had smelt the food she was cooking and had planned on taking a break to eat soon anyway, but he was thankful that she brought it to him instead so he could continue.

"Thanks." He muttered quietly as he started clearing off a space for her to set the tray down, Hinata waited patiently for him.

"How are things coming along?" she asked hesitantly. He sighed deeply but refrained from looking at her.

"I didn't realize there would be so many things to go through." He admitted.

"Well it…looks like you're going through them quickly." Hinata supplied unsure of what to say as she placed the tray down on the newly cleared off space. Neji nodded silently, never one to talk too much. Not wanting to keep him from the task he set out to finish, she immediately started to leave after setting the tray down, but just before she opened the door she paused.

"Neji?" she asked, gaining his attention once more before smiling gently at him. "I forgive you."

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Stretching from his chair to relieve cramped and tense muscles, Neji blinked his tired eyes repeatedly. He had just finished going through all of the paper work of all the years he'd 'missed'. The sun had gone down hours ago and the tea that Hinata had brought him before she went to bed was now cold. Exhausted pale eyes slowly landed on the cup of cold tea, an image of Hinata floating to the surface of his mind. She had done well over the years that she had been leader, a lot better than he ever thought she would or could do. It was difficult to remember that it was mainly her that evoked most, if not all the changes that had occurred over the years she'd lead the clan. It was as if she had been deceiving them all into thinking she was one way, when in fact she was another. As if their whole life was a masquerade and as soon as she became leader she had shed her mask and shown the world who she truly was; a woman not to be messed with, a woman who knew what she wanted and wouldn't stop until she got it, a woman fully capable of leading Konaha's most powerful clan.

Neji shook his head; it was so hard to believe. The same girl who was once shunned and ridiculed by her own family because of her weakness, now commanded their loyalty and earned their respect by her leadership skills. It made him feel even worse than before. Where was the basis for his hatred now? He had hated her because she was in a position of power yet she was weaker than him. He hated her because he thought himself better capable of leading this clan, yet could he have done a better job than her? He unfortunately admitted to himself 'no'; he couldn't have done any better than her. It seems that, years later, she _did_ deserve the position given to her from birth. So then, the basis for his hatred was wrong and misplaced all along. She deserved his loyalty and respect; she deserved his encouragement and support instead of his hatred, anger, or animosity.

Then what about now? He had no idea what was going to happen now. Would he ever get to go back to his time? To the life and world he remembered? To the dark, empty life that he had left behind? To her grave? Or was he destined to stay here in this life, this world, forever? If so, didn't that woman say that this was his second chance? A chance to change things; to make them right? To give Hinata what she truly deserved to have? He sighed tiredly, confused. He wanted to, he actually, truly did. His soul and heart and mind was tired. Tired of this hatred that had borne inside of him for so long, for too long. He wanted to move on this time, to really let go of the past. To finally show her the side of him that he showed his friends, a side of him that he hasn't shown to her since they were children. Oh to be young and innocent again. Deep down, he missed those times. He missed being able to speak easily to her, to befriend her. He was tired of seeing her as the enemy; he wanted to see her as a friend.

Tidying up her desk, Neji grabbed the tray with the teapot and cup and carried them over to the kitchen. All the lights were turned off and silence filled the compound. Looking to the clock, he read that it was already one-thirty in the morning. After he finished cleaning and putting away the dishes, he quietly and hesitantly walked back to the bedroom. Their bedroom. Yet as he approached, he noticed that light was shining from underneath the door. Was she still up?

Opening the door slowly, his eyes immediately found her sitting up in bed, but asleep with an old looking scroll opened on her lap. Her head was leaning back and facing his side of the bed with her long hair covering half of her serene face. It was funny, she didn't really look all the different from when he remembered her, she didn't look twelve years older, she didn't look like she was thirty-two. Was it her innocent and pure nature that made her look forever young? Walking quietly to her side of the bed, he paused and just stared down at her. She seemed so vulnerable and trusting. _Like Haruko._ Yes, lying like that, asleep, she reminded him of when their youngest child fell asleep in his lap earlier that day. Was it really only this morning when he woke up confused and filled with misplaced hatred for her? Was it really only this morning that this whole mess started? It seemed like it was weeks ago.

Bending down, he gently lifted the scroll carefully from her lap, but she stirred anyway. Moving her head towards him and slowly opening her sleepy eyes. When those lavender eyes of hers finally reached his she smiled. Instead of smiling back however, he just turned from her and rolled the scroll back up and placed it on the little table next to the bed. Hinata watched him silently for a few minutes before she spoke up.

"I was looking…for a way to…remove the curse seal. No luck tonight however." She said tiredly. Neji refrained from looking at her, but somewhere deep inside of him, he was touched. She really was trying to help free him.

"You should go to bed." He said instead, changing the subject. He was still trying to sort out his feelings; he didn't want to speak on a subject that was still a bit sore for him. Understanding him, Hinata nodded silently whilst waking up a bit more and trying to clear her head. Looking at the bed and then at him, she noticed he was gazing at her, uncertainty in his stare. He was thinking exactly what she was thinking…where was he going to sleep?

"I'll just…go to my…old room." Neji said, uncomfortably. He wasn't the husband she knew and seemed to love; he didn't feel it was his place to sleep next to her.

"Don't be ridiculous Neji." She said softly, her gaze avoiding his. "We're both adults here, it will be fine. Besides, what if the kids come in? What would they think?" she commented. At first, Neji was going to argue, not caring what the children would think. But then the image of Haruko asleep in his lap came to mind along with the feelings he had felt, so he remained silent.

"It's okay Neji…I promise I won't attack you in the middle of the night." Hinata said with a rueful smile that didn't reach her eyes. She missed her husband, she missed talking with him, she missed his kisses, and she missed being in his arms. It was so hard to remind herself that the man before her wasn't really her husband anymore. She couldn't hug him, kiss him, touch him. Getting up, she pulled an extra pillow from the closet and carried it with her back to bed.

"What's that for?" Neji asked her, curious, there was enough pillows on the bed. She didn't answer him, but when she went to lie down, she brought the pillow to her chest and clutched it tightly. She was used to holding onto her husband in her sleep, so in order to keep her promise to Neji about not 'attacking him' she'd need something to hold onto in the middle of the night. After seeing her bury her face into the pillow, Neji remained silent, not pressing her. Guessing which dresser was his; he pulled out a pair of sweat pants, and after a moment, a t-shirt as well. It was awkward enough sleeping in the same bed as her, let alone shirtless. Going into the bathroom, he quickly changed and came back out.

Turning out the lights, he went to his side of the bed and immediately got in. Making sure to stay on his side of the bed, he turned so that his back was to her creating yet another barrier between them. Moment after awkward moment, the silence continued on, but they were both exhausted from the strange and stressful day. Sleep beckoned and they could feel their resistance to it weaken with every passing second. Finally just before he fell sleep, he heard a soft and gentle "Good night…Neji."

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AN: Yay! Another chapter done. I hope you guys like it. I know the beginning is kind of on the random side, but I want to show what a 'typical' day for Hinata would be like, interacting with her son. And YAY! I finally got a beta-reader! No more reading through the stupid mistakes that I can't never catch! So many thanks to the wonderful, magnificent, and beautiful Cookie-chi! I wuvs you!...And all of you awesome readers who review! I'll see ya in the next installment, ja ne!...Oh and don't forget to review for me! Reviewing and showing an authoress a little love is good for the soul.


	8. The First Step Forward

Chapter 8: The First Step Forward

Beta by Cookie-chi

_Turning out the lights, he went to his side of the bed and immediately got in. Making sure to stay on his side of the bed, he turned so that his back was to her creating yet another barrier between them. Moment after awkward moment, the silence continued on, but they were both exhausted from the strange and stressful day. Sleep beckoned and they could feel their resistance to it weak with every passing second. Finally just before he fell sleep, he heard a soft "Good night…Neji."_

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The gentle sound of birds singing outside the window slowly brought awareness to a sleeping male body. Groaning softly, Neji turned his head to the side, opening his pale eyes to the still darkened room. He could tell by the small amount of light that it was about an hour before sunrise. His milky gaze slowly traveled the room he was in; it was larger than he remembered with two sets of dressers. That confused him, why would there be two dressers in his room? A soft feminine sigh then reached his sensitive ears. Turning his head to the other side his eyes landed on a peacefully sleeping woman. She was sleeping on her stomach with her gentle face turned towards him. It wasn't until her hand twitched that he realized that his own hand was engulfing her smaller, delicate one. Scowling with confusion, he gently removed his hand from hers, careful not to wake her.

There was a weird feeling growing in his chest as he continued to look at her. He couldn't really describe the feeling however. It wasn't disgust, he's felt that a number of times. Part of it was awkwardness; he had never woken up next to a woman before. Though he's bedded plenty, he had never stuck around long enough to fall asleep with them. His sigh was one mixed with depression and interest. He obviously wasn't back to the life and time he remembered. It made him wonder how much longer he was going to be here. Part of him hoped that it was only for that one day, and yet part of him was glad that it was not. This place was just barely starting to hold an interest for him; a question for him to answer, a challenge for him to overcome, a problem for him to solve.

"Hmm…Neji…" a soft whisper was emitted from the woman next to him. His eyes traveled back to her, watching her smile slightly in her sleep, nestling her face deeper into her pillow. His gaze grew curious as he studied her. He had thought that he had her pegged. He thought he knew her character, that he knew her future, when instead the woman was an enigma. She puzzled him to no end and his mind was having difficulty accepting the changes. How could such a delicate and vulnerable woman cause such change in a rigidly traditional family? Where had her strength come from? Did she always have it? Was she hiding it from the world? Why would she hide it? Why would she purposefully hide the strength that would later amaze them all? An image of Naruto came to his mind. She was similar to Naruto in a way. Naruto was another person he thought he knew the limitations to, but wrong in every way. He remembered telling Naruto that although he did not have the Byakugan, he saw a lot better than Neji himself. Was Hinata the same? Could she see better and clearer than him? Neji had a feeling that she did. She had told him so during their fight in the Chuunin exams, but he was too blinded by hatred to see. Well, now he could see, now his vision was clearer, he could see her better now.

"Hinata-sama?" Neji whispered suddenly, wondering if she was awake, but she didn't move and didn't answer. Feeling safer and less vulnerable knowing she was asleep, Neji slowly moved himself closer to her, bringing his lips down to her ear.

"I'm…I'm going to try Hinata-sama, but…I'm…afraid to ask for your help. Change has never come easy to me…I'm afraid that…I'm going to need your help. Will you help me?" he whispered to her softly. He paused before moving back, unable to help himself, smelling her scent of lavender and lilac. He was surprised and shocked when he heard her answer him.

"Yes…of course I will." She whispered back to him. Moving back slightly, he saw her slowly open her pure eyes and gaze back at him. Her eyes always showed her emotions; she never could hide her feelings, not when he was able to pierce her soul with his eyes. Her ivory gaze lowered slightly, and he knew she was staring at his lips, which he suddenly noticed were only a breath away from hers. He could sense her want and need for a kiss from him, but being in such close proximity to her made him feel weird and uncomfortable, let alone the thought of kissing her. Mixed emotions swirled inside of him, his past hatred blending with his present desire to let go of the past. Leaning away from her, he watched her close her eyes as if in pain before turning away from him and slowly rising. Pity filled inside of him. What would it be like to be in love with someone and then have that love taken away, even when that person was still there? Would it be as painful as the look in her eyes?

He had never loved a woman before, none except his mother. Since that was his only basis, he wondered how he would feel if she would suddenly not love him anymore. That is, if she were still alive. Though her death was years ago, he could understand that he would feel sad and hurt to find her love for him suddenly gone. Getting up, he took careful precision not to look at Hinata, keeping his back to her. An awkward silence filled between them and the air grew thick and tense. He felt a little bad for her, he was not the loving husband she was use to waking next to. Instead she had to settle for a man who was just starting to try and get over his hatred towards her. She had probably woken up feeling disappointed and depressed that her husband wasn't back.

Moving to get another set of clothes, he sensed her walk into the bathroom and close the door behind her, probably to get dressed. Not feeling patient enough to wait for the bathroom, he got dressed where he was, hoping she would get done after him. When he was done, she opened the door a crack and asked if she could reenter the room. Replying that she could, they soon stood in front of each other, but unsure of what to say or how to dispel the uncomfortable air between them. They didn't look at each other; too confused with how things were between them. Just as Neji was about to say something, Hinata beat him to it.

"So…what would you like for breakfast?" she asked with a cheerful tone and a forced smile. Neji looked at her with a puzzled frown, why did she always have to try and please others? Had she no regard for herself?

"I…don't know." He answered hesitantly, uncertain of how he was supposed to react to her sudden and false cheerfulness.

"Okay…how about I…just make something, and you could eat it if you want." She offered, still trying to get past the pain in her heart, trying to hide and tuck away the ache that threatened to tear her apart. Remaining silent, Neji nodded to her before they walked stiffly out of the room. They had just reached the kitchen when Hiashi met them there, his expression stern and serious.

"Hinata, Neji I need to speak with you." he said, making it more of an order than a request. Always the obedient Branch member, Neji nodded silently to him. Hinata, though usually an obedient daughter, was now used to the power she held. Instead of immediately complying, she just shook her head at her father.

"I need to make breakfast for my family first." She said, simply stating a fact, not being defiant. However, Hiashi had need for the both of them instead of just Neji.

"Hanabi can make it, I need to talk to both of you." Hiashi said, spotting his other daughter making her way into the kitchen. Hearing her name, Hanabi stopped in mid-yawn and looked around.

"Huh?" she asked, not fully awake.

"Make breakfast for the kids." Hinata told her before turning back to Hiashi. "Is my office alright?" she asked. It was not often her father asked to speak to her and Neji so urgently.

"Yes that's fine." Hiashi replied, and with that the three made their way towards Hinata's office hearing the fading complaints coming from Hanabi at being saddled to make breakfast. After the three of them had entered the room and closed the door, Hinata turned to her father as she remained standing.

"May I ask what is so urgent Tou-san?" Hinata asked, feeling suspicious that he might know something about Neji's condition. Though it had only been a day, Hiashi was always one to catch on quickly. But Hiashi remained silent for a while, trying to decide just how he was going to approach the subject he had wished to discuss. He knew something was going on, something that involved Neji and that upset Hinata. Ever since Hinata had been named leader, Hiashi had been finding his curiosity increase and his patience for certain things decrease. He was sad to say that he felt he was almost reduced to a gossiping woman.

"Is…is everything between you two…okay?" He asked slowly, looking to Neji and Hinata. Knowing about the relationship within a family was one thing, poking into the relationship between a married couple was another. However, these two were more than just a married couple. They consisted of their clan's leader and her second-in-command. If their relationship was not going well, it would reflect how they lead the clan. His question though, hit a sensitive point in both of them. Neji and Hinata both turned their faces away, looking downcast.

"Why…do you ask?" Hinata asked softly, trying her best not to look or sound sad.

"Well for one thing, I haven't seen such tension between you two for years. It's also the first time you haven't celebrated your anniversary." Hiashi explained to them, keeping to himself his suspicions of yesterday with the children, for now. Noting both of their reactions he knew something was definitely going on, Neji may not have shown much with his shuttered and expressionless face, but Hinata could never fully hide her emotions. Hiashi wondered what kind of scenario would cause such tension between a couple that had appeared happily married for over a decade. Being met with only silence, Hiashi then came to his own conclusion, and one that did not make him happy. Turning towards Neji, fire flashed in Hiashi's eyes.

"Are you being unfaithful to my daughter?" he asked in a soft but threatening voice. Two sets of pale eyes widened with shock and surprise. With a look of almost disgust, Neji slowly shook his head as he backed away from the anger-growing Hiashi. Seeing the potential violence that was about to break out, Hinata quickly intervened.

"No Tou-san, that's not it." She cried softly, leaping forward and putting a hand on her father's arm to stop him. Pausing in his pursuit of Neji, Hiashi looked down at his daughter, confused. If Neji wasn't cheating on Hinata, then what was bothering her?

"Are you being unfaithful?" he asked her in a shocked voice. It was difficult to imagine his daughter sleeping with another man besides her husband, but things were known to happen. Temptation sometimes came around, for everyone. But one look at Hinata's face, Hiashi almost chuckled out loud.

"And just when would I find time for another lover? If I'm not leading the clan then I'm raising my children. No, Tou-san, I would never betray my husband." Hinata stated seriously. She almost felt insulted that he would have asked her; she would never do such a thing. She loved Neji with all her heart and soul, her husband and her family were everything to her, and she meant what she said. But Hiashi was still confused about what was going on. He felt idiotic for the conclusions he came up with, and he was not used to feeling that way. He was also not used to being left in the dark, which was exactly what was going on right now. Taking her hand off of him, he crossed his arms over his chest and looked at them both again, an annoyed expression on his face.

"Then would you two mind telling me what is going on?" he asked, his voice hard. Again, the two avoided his gaze, looking uncomfortable. It worried him a bit, he knew that at one point in time he was very harsh with them, but it hadn't been like that for two decades. He had thought, or at least hoped, that his sins from the past would have been forgiven by now. He had hoped that at least Hinata would have trusted him by now. As the silence drew on, Neji became more and more frustrated. It was annoying; this whole thing was just one big mess. If they were already found out, what was the point of trying to keep it a secret?

"This is stupid." Neji suddenly said, breaking the silence. "It's difficult to believe but its true." He said vaguely. Hiashi just stared at him with a brow raised while Hinata looked at him with her expression carefully hidden. Neji's pale gaze slowly met hers, reading the question in her eyes. He nodded his head slightly, watching as she lowered her gaze once again. Hiashi waiting silently for Neji to elaborate, but he never did. Just when Hiahsi was going to ask more questions, Hinata spoke up.

"Neji…lost his memory…" she said softly.

"No I didn't." Neji argued, cutting her off.

"For lack of a better description." She continued, looking at him with a slightly angry gaze. She knew he didn't lose his memory, according to him, but she couldn't think of a better way to say it. To her and everyone else, he did lose his memory. She knew that from his perspective it was more of a 'different life' than memory loss. She accepted that, it was probably true, but for now what she had said was probably the best way to say it.

Watching their exchange, Hiashi was not very surprised. He knew something was different with Neji, he wouldn't have guessed this, but it was not so farfetched either. From what he has seen of their relationship right now, it looked like it had gone back in time. Maybe not on Hinata's part but definitely on Neji's. Clearing his throat to gain their attention once again, he waited for one or both of them to continue.

"What I remember and what…happened in the past are different." Neji explained a little bit more. When Hiashi continued to remain silent as well as Hinata, Neji went on. "What I remember was that…in the war…I had failed my mission. Hinata-sama…Hinata-sama was killed in battle, as well as many others. Two days ago marked a year since the memorial service to them." Neji said in a strained voice, remembering his encounter with the woman yesterday. The one who brought him to this life, the one who reminded him of his nightmares and of his regrets.

"So he apparently doesn't have any memory of our marriage and the children because I…wasn't alive." Hinata finished for him, realizing he had lost his voice for the moment, caught up in whatever it was he was thinking about. Hiashi nodded his head in understanding and remained silent a bit longer.

"Who else knows about Neji's…condition?" he asked Hinata, ignoring Neji for the moment.

"Just Hokage-sama and now you." Hinata replied. Hiashi nodded his head again this time in approval. Going to the Hokage was a wise decision. "We…we were told from Naruto-kun to go to Tsunade-sama, to see if she could help…but we haven't gone yet." She said slowly, looking at Neji from the corner of eye.

"She could help, though its unlikely." Hiashi commented, his milky eyes pondering on the best course of action. "It would, obviously, be best if no one else knew about this. But you know Hinata, that Neji can no longer run the clan with you." At that, Neji snapped his back towards Hiashi, anger flashing in his eyes.

"Yes I can." He argued.

"You know nothing about what has occurred in the past eleven years Neji, no you cannot." Hiashi stated, trying to remain patient with the man.

"I beg your pardon Hiashi-sama, but I have read all the documents on the changes of these past years. I am not unaware of what has happened." Neji said, trying to hold back his anger. It was as if he was being demoted from his position of power that he hasn't even used yet. As if the freedom he had gained was being taken away from him, well he wasn't going to let it go so easily. He would hold onto it with both hands.

"I can understand that Neji. I know you are wise enough to read those documents and now you may know all that has transpired, however you no longer have the experience you need to help Hinata guide our family." Hiashi explained, he could see why Neji was being so difficult about this; he was not such an ignorant man. However, he couldn't allow Neji to lead Hinata, to lead their clan to ruin. Not when they had come so far, not when they had changed so much.

"I have just as much experience now as I had when I was first appointed to this position." Neji persisted.

"Yes, but back then things were different. I'm sorry Neji, but I simply cannot allow you to be Hinata's sole advisor." Hiashi said with finality. Hearing it, Neji clenched his teeth tightly, his hands fisting at his sides to stop himself from saying something that would get his seal activated. Forgetting that that practice no longer occurred now…at least not legally.

"I understand with your way of thinking Tou-san." Hinata suddenly piped up, not wanting to be left out of a conversation of how she was going to run the clan. "However, because Neji is not only my second-in-command, he is also my husband, experienced or not. So, I would trust you to understand as well when I say that he will still be the first I go to when I need help." A scowl appeared on Hiashi's face as he listed to his daughter's words. He knew what she was trying to do; she was trying to save face. She was saving his pride, but was she really willing to risk their family's future for Neji's pride? However, he could see the stubbornness in her ivory eyes, she would not back down.

"You do realize that you do not have total authority. It is possible for me to remove you from your position." Hiashi stated, his eyes as hard as granite. His threat was not an empty one; he could remove her from her leadership position. It would have to be a unanimous decision from the council and most of the clan would have to accept it, but it was a possibility. Neji watched as father and daughter fought a battle of wills. He did not know such a thing could happen, though he had read documents, the inner workings of his political family was still something he was learning about. The air was charged with tension as silence filled the room for a moment.

"Yes I do realize that, however I also know that you want our family to change and the only way that can happen is if I lead our clan. Do not test me Tou-san, I am not the girl I use to be." Hinata said in a hard voice as she continued to stare her father down. Surprise filtered through Neji's mind as he listened to her. She was definitely not what he remembered. She used to always tremble in the presence of Hiashi, and now she was challenging him. Neji's mouth nearly dropped when Hiashi tore his gaze away from his daughter. Hinata had just put Hiashi in his place! Every minute he spent in this different life surprised him.

"I still think it would be wise if he would not be your main advisor." Hiashi said, his eyes looking anywhere but at his daughter or Neji. He did not like, or was used to, being told what to do. Not when he was the one to lead for as long as he did. But she was right, she was not the girl she once was, she was stronger now and she was the only one who could save their clan from certain destruction.

"I hear you Tou-san. I did not say that Neji would be the only one I go to. I just said that he will be the first, you will also be notified when I need assistance." Hinata said, trying to smooth his ruffled feathers. But she just wanted her father to know that she would not leave Neji out of things just because he couldn't remember. It wouldn't be the first time they had gone through rough times, and it probably wouldn't be the last.

"Very well." Hiashi nodded his head curtly, before walking out of the office. Sighing deeply, Hinata closed her eyes. She always hated confrontations, she still didn't like them, but she knew now that sometimes there was no way around it. Neji watched her and was once again reminded on how different she was now. A scene like that would have never occurred in the time he remembered. She would have simply accepted what her father told her and not fought him, or anyone else. Or would she?

Lowering his gaze, Neji wondered just how well he knew his cousin. It seemed like he didn't know her at all and never did. He was probably always wrong about her, about her strength and her intensions. No, there were some things he was right about. She was too nice, too soft. She cared too much, he still didn't think she was suited to be a good kunoichi, but now he knew that she was suited to be a good leader. She was kind to all, not just the Main House. She cared for everyone in their family; she wasn't biased. Lifting his gaze once again, his eyes followed her to the door.

"Hinata-sama." He called out, stopping her. She turned her head towards his, waiting. "You really have changed." He said, unable to think of anything else. Her eyes softened as she smiled softly at him before walking out, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

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AN: So sorry about the late update. I was stuck a little while on this chapter and then when I finally did come up with something, I got lazy. Can't really give you guys a good excuse because I don't have one. But I must say that I thank all of you so much for your reviews. Those of you who read but don't review (yes I know who you are!) I'm very disappointed. But those of you who do review, even if it's just a small encouraging word, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. It is because of you that I continue writing, God knows it isn't for myself…I would never get anything done if that were the case. But, gosh, I think I'm rambling, lol. I guess this is a little longer than I would like. I hope you enjoyed the chapter as boring as I think it is. See you at the next installment! Ja!


	9. New Confidants

Chapter 9: New Confidants

Beta'ed by Cookie-chi

_Lowering his gaze, Neji wondered just how well he knew his cousin. It seemed like he didn't know her at all and never did. He was probably always wrong about her, about her strength and her intensions. No, there were some things he was right about. She was too nice, too soft. She cared too much, he still didn't think she was suited to be a good kunoichi, but now he knew that she was suited to be a good leader. She was kind to all, not just the Main House. She cared for everyone in their family; she wasn't biased. Lifting his gaze once again, his eyes followed her to the door._

"_Hinata-sama." He called out, stopping her. She turned her head towards his, waiting. "You really have changed." He said, unable to think of anything else. Her eyes softened as she smiled softly at him before walking out, leaving him alone with his thoughts._

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The blond, hazel-eyed woman frowned with concentration and her effort to solve the problem that was presented before her. It was a unique story to an uncommon condition. It wasn't everyday that she would hear about a shinobi losing their memories, but most of the time it was due to either head trauma or a jutsu. However, the story behind this particular case was rare indeed. Her hazel eyes lifted as she stared at the two Hyuugas before her. Neji with his nonchalance about his situation was just staring out of the window, silent and as unreadable as ever. Meanwhile, Hinata was sitting on his left, staring down at her hands in her lap. It had been years since Tsunade has seen the woman revert back to her girlish ways and she had a strong inclination it was due to her husband's condition. But what exactly caused it was a mystery to her. He had suffered no trauma recently, and by looking over his last mission report, nothing out of the ordinary had happened to him.

"Unfortunately," Tsunade started out, gaining their attention, "I don't think I can help you out. This is certainly not a normal case, there is nothing here that I can heal or cure."

"But Tsunade-sama…" Hinata interjected, worry filling in her ivory eyes.

"I'm sorry Hinata, but nothing has happened to him." Tsunade said, cutting her off. Then, as she paused, Tsunade turned to look at the stoic man in front of her. "It must be as he says…for there is no other explanation."

Hinata continued to stare and Tsunade, her hands fisting in her lap as she fought desperately to keep her tears at bay. Her heart was gripped in the cold iron hands of despair and sorrow as she realized that she would never again get to be with her husband. Instead, she was left with only a shadow of him, of his past, leaving her all alone. For there wasn't anyone she could turn to. She couldn't afford to let any of their friends know, her father would not offer her comfort, and her children would look to her for guidance. She no longer had the reassurance that she was use to all these years; for the first time in her life, she was truly alone.

Lowering her gaze to her lap, her eyes strayed towards the man beside her. His face was void of any expression, not betraying a single thought that passed through his mind. He was so distant, so far away from her and she ached to be close to him once again. She had felt closer to him when he was away on missions than she did right now, sitting next to her husband's past. She watched as his eyes slowly moved towards her direction and she wondered at what he was going to do or say. She had remembered when he requested her assistance this morning, yet now it only seemed like a distant memory.

"I had told you…there is no way for me to forget a memory that never occurred." Neji said in his cool voice. He had tried to tell everyone that it wasn't a matter of memory loss. It was never a matter of memory loss. History for him has totally been rewritten and now he was living in an alternate future. A different future than the one he had been anticipating. He did not tell them, however, that this was his second chance. That he was brought here by Fate to relieve his soul of his heavy burden of regret. For some reason he did not want them knowing how deeply he was affected by Hinata's death. He did not want them knowing that he had wished such a dark fate on the woman everyone here thought he was in love with.

"You're right…I apologize for…thinking otherwise." Hinata said with her head bowed slightly in his direction before turning towards the previous Hokage. "Thank you Tsunade-sama for seeing us."

"I wish I could help you guys out but…" Tsunade's eyes scanned both of them before finally landing on Neji. "I don't know when or if you'll ever get back to…that other life. But, I don't think it'll be any time soon. Might as well start adjusting to this one." She advised. Neji nodded his head solemnly before both himself and Hinata stood to leave. Naruto had already told him to live this life as best he could, and he had already decided to try that, as difficult as it would be.

The walk back home was long and silent, Neji could almost feel the sadness radiate off of the woman who walked beside him. He didn't know how to feel when it came to her, but when he thought of what he was going to be doing the next few days, it annoyed him. He wasn't allowed to go on any missions, he couldn't go talk to any of their friends for fear of them knowing his 'condition', it was like he was being isolated from everyone and everything. He supposed he could train by himself like he so often did, however, finding out what his limitations were was going to be a long and tedious task.

"Neji?" he heard Hinata call his name, shaking him out of his thoughts. He glanced at her for a moment before returning his gaze to look ahead, silently waiting for her to say whatever it was that was on her mind.

"I was thinking…" she started out before pausing again, her brows furrowed from her thoughts. "I was thinking, it might be a good idea to take Tenten-chan and Lee-san into our confidence." She said, looking up at him to see what he thought of her idea. His face was shuttered up like in the past, and she was unable to discern if he approved or not. Wanting to sway him, in case he didn't like her idea, she continued.

"You haven't trained with them in a while…since they've been busy with their genin teams, but I think they would be the best ones to help you find where you are in terms of your strength. You have gained much in your fighting skills, I believe they're the only ones who can help us…I mean you." she corrected herself, unsure of how he would react. She didn't know what she could say or do around him anymore. She knew what she couldn't say or do, but with his distant and cool nature, it was impossible for her to know if he still harbored hatred for her.

Listening to her, he agreed that her idea was actually a good one. Tenten and Lee would probably be the best ones to train with now, as opposed to by himself or anyone else. He guessed that, by all that he had seen in the past day and a half; that he shouldn't be surprised that she would come up with such an idea. But he was surprised, not as much as before, trying to get used to the idea that she was smarter and wiser than he remembered her. Looking down at her Neji felt a corner of his mouth lift slightly, showing her that he did approve and was grateful for the idea she proposed.

"Where can I find them?" he asked her, holding back the growing excitement that was filling within him. He didn't think he had ever looked forward to training with his team so much as he did now. He hated feeling useless, which in this life, he was.

"I…believe you can find them at your old training area. I think they often share it when they're with their genin students." Hinata told him hesitantly, not quite sure where they would be at this time of day. Parting from her Neji started heading in that direction, but then paused and looked back at her, a question in his eyes. Seeing it, finally seeing something, Hinata smiled.

"I'll be at home training Hitomi." She told him.

"I thought Hiashi-sama trained the kid-…uh…them." Neji said with slight confusion.

"He does, but with Hitomi…she's more like me. I need to teach her some of my techniques." Hinata explained. Their eldest daughter was indeed in many ways like her mother. She had inherited her mother's hair, her soft and caring nature, as well as her difficulty in learning the Kaiten. Seeing her struggle, Hinata thought that it was time to teach her a different way of fighting, though still within the Hyuuga art. Nodding his head in understanding, Neji turned his back to her and headed towards the training grounds, leaving Hinata behind.

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As Neji approached the training grounds, he could hear the clang of metal weapons reverberate through the air. An easy smile reached his lips as he heard it, knowing exactly whom he was going to see. Soon enough, he watched as Tenten and her three students tried to take her on as their training. Two of her students were kneeling on the ground, out of breath while the third seemed a bit more persistent and stubborn than his two teammates. Neji chuckled softly to himself as he watched Tenten give the boy a good smack on the head with her long wooden staff, then whirl around, her staff close to the ground, knocking him down. Exhausted and out of breath, the boy now seemed content to just lie there on the ground. Righting her staff, Tenten looked down at her students, noting how tired they were. They needed a bit more conditioning, but since she could see Neji heading in her direction, she figured she could give them a break.

"Alright kids, go get some lunch and take a rest. But everyone better be back here by four and ready to train!" she said loudly and sternly. Nodding their heads, all of them slowly crawled off the ground and headed towards the village. Waiting until they were out of hearing distance, Tenten finally turned to her old teammate with a smile.

"Neji! Haven't seen you in a long time. How's it going?" she asked, her eyes as bright as he remembered them to be. She, like Hinata, didn't really look that much different, except now her hair was no longer in two buns. Instead she wore her hair down, but pulled back into a long braid. She looked older that way, more mature, and just seeing her alive and well brought him more happiness than he would like to admit.

"It's really good to see you…Tenten." Neji said solemnly but his white eyes were soft and a small smile graced his lips. Looking a little confused, yet happy, Tenten smiled a little bit wider.

"Thank you…it's good to see you too Neji." Tenten said with a slight chuckle.

"Is Lee around?" Neji asked, wanting to get to business right away.

"Unfortunately no, he's on a mission with his team." She told him with a shrug. "Why? What's up?" she asked.

"I…need to talk to you two." Neji told her, his smile disappearing as his seriousness set in again. Seeing it, and knowing him, Tenten knew it had to be something important.

"What's wrong?" she asked with a concerned look. For some reason he hesitated. He just wished he didn't have to explain his story so many times; it was getting annoying. But thinking about his time, remembering how different both him and Lee were without their old female teammate, his heart grew heavy. Looking at her, he sighed deeply, and tried to smile.

"It's…just really good to see you." he told her quietly. Tenten looked at him with confusion when suddenly her cheeks were lit with a light pink color. Lowering her gaze, she took a small step back.

"Wh-what's with that look?" she asked with an embarrassed laugh. "I haven't seen that look since…" her voice trailed away, leaving her sentence hanging.

"What look?" Neji asked, a little confused.

"Neji don't be stupid, you know what I'm talking about." Tenten said with a slightly hard voice.

"I would not ask if I knew." Neji said, his voice also becoming hard with annoyance. "You know me Tenten."

"That's exactly it! I don't know what the hell you're doing." She argued getting upset.

"Tenten…" his voice cold from anger.

"What?! You're the one who's acting weird! Why did you suddenly look at me like…" she stopped, not wanting to actually admit it to both of them. "Are you and Hinata-chan in a fight or something?"

"How the hell did she get into this conversation?" Neji asked, frustrated.

"Because she's your wife, or have you forgotten?" she asked him sarcastically.

"Yes, I have." Neji hissed at her. Forget trying to tell it to his teammates gently, it was times like these when he didn't like being around her. Or just women in generally, they were just so confusing!

"What?" Tenten, stopped short, looking at him as if he were crazy. Neji looked away from her, trying to calm down to explain it to her.

"I have no memory of Hinata being my wife. I have no memory of these past eleven years, because to me they never happened. And they never would happen, not with how things were the way I remember them." Neji explained, trying not to get annoyed by her open mouth stare.

"A-are you serious?" she asked him with disbelief.

"Yes. The way I remember things, you along with Hinata and many others, died in the war. And for me that was just a little over a year ago." Neji told her quietly, the familiar feelings of emptiness starting to creep up on him.

"Oh my goodness." Tenten exclaimed, her eyes lowering to the ground, trying to understand and take in what he said. It made sense in a way. The way he was acting weird, acting as if he hadn't seen her in such a long time. Because to him; it had been a long time. "Well no wonder you looked at me like that." She said softly, almost to herself than to him.

"So…so then…now what?" she asked him, looking up again. Even though they hadn't been on a team in years, and she had been leading her own for quite some time. She still looked to him for guidance, he was always their leader, and he always knew what course of action to take. But pity filled inside her, pity that she made sure she hid from her eyes. Neji never liked to be pitied, and she didn't blame him, but he would be furious with her if she showed just how much she pitied him. And then following that thought, she wondered how Hinata was dealing with all of this. She felt bad for the woman, because she knew that eleven years ago Neji carried some hatred within him towards Hinata. How heartbreaking that must be for her.

"Well, I need you and Lee to help me figure out my limitations." Neji told her, cutting in on her thoughts. Blinking, Tenten brought herself back to where she was.

"Um…your limitations?" she asked, a little puzzled.

"To see how strong I am now. I'm not allowed to go on missions until I do." Neji explained to her, still feeling a little bit bitter about being put on probation. A corner of her mouth twitched in humor. Trust Neji to mainly be concerned about going on missions as opposed to, say, his children. She chuckled to herself, _I guess some things never change_.

"Sure, no problem. I would be glad to help out." she told him sincerely. "Should we start now or wait for Lee to get back?" she asked, though she already guessed what he was going to say.

"Do I really have to answer that question?" Neji asked, his brow quirked but a mischievous smile played about his lips. Chuckling out loud, Tenten shook her head.

"Guess not. Let me get my stuff." She told him, as she jogged to go get her pack. This was going to be one fun training session.

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AN: w00t! Chapter Nine done! And finally an end to the boring chapters! I know most of you guys didn't think that the last chapter was boring like I did. And I thank you guys so much for telling me otherwise. Hopefully you feel that way about this chapter. Unfortunately I think it's just another boring chapter. But it's the last one! Yay! Excitement in the next chapter! Yay! Lol. And…and…and…guess what. I noticed that I only have a few chapters with more than 10 reviews…so if this chapter gets AT LEAST 10 reviews. I'll update sooner. I usually try and update weekly, but I'll update sooner if you guys give me enough lovin'! Lol. But regardless, I love you all and I'll see you next time! Ja ne!


	10. Time Passes and Mutiny Revealed!

Chapter 10: Time Passes And Mutiny Revealed!

Beta'ed by Cookie-chi

_"Well, I need you and Lee to help me figure out my limitations." Neji told her, cutting in on her thoughts. Blinking, Tenten brought herself back to where she was._

_"Um…your limitations?" she asked, a little puzzled._

_"To see how strong I am now. I'm not allowed to go on missions until I do." Neji explained to her, still feeling a little bit bitter about being put on probation. A corner of her mouth twitched in humor. Trust Neji to mainly be concerned about going on missions as opposed to, say, his children. She chuckled to herself, __**I guess some things never change.**_

_"Sure, no problem. I would be glad to help out." she told him sincerely. "Should we start now or wait for Lee to get back?" she asked, though she already guessed what he was going to say._

_"Do I really have to answer that question?" Neji asked, his brow quirked but a mischievous smile played about his lips. Chuckling out loud, Tenten shook her head._

_"Guess not. Let me get my stuff." She told him, as she jogged to go get her pack. This was going to be one fun training session._

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Four months, two weeks, five days, and approximately thirteen hours since he's been here…not that he was counting. Time had passed and things had changed. In the beginning he knew, that though he wanted to move on, he resisted the change in the respect he had for his younger cousin. But now, living with her and her children, he still has some difficulty calling them 'his'; he has been able to adjust easier. He no longer felt so awkward around them now. Hizashi reminded him so much of himself, and yet, he could be so different. He was a happy child, with a loving family and no grudge against the world. Hitomi was very much like her mother so he, at first, distanced himself the most from her. Yet she was so quick to please and always had an easy smile to give, it had soon grown difficult to keep himself so distant from her. While Haruko had blown his defenses as if they weren't even there to begin with. She was so young, so clingy, so dependent, and yet she some how had a tight grip on his heart. Neji found himself giving in to her every whim, even when he felt incredibly awkward. For some reason he could never say no to her.

Hinata on the other hand, there was still some tension between them. Mostly in the morning however. Because for some reason, no matter how far away from her he was when he fell asleep, when they woke up the next morning they were always in some form of contact. Usually it was just some kind of hand holding, but this morning however it was different. They fell asleep with their backs facing each other, yet when he woke up he found his arms snaked around her body, holding her tightly to him. It had been the most awkward morning since he first came here. He refused to try and figure out why that would always happen, shoving it from his mind as much as he could. Just because he respected her now and didn't find her presence annoying anymore, it didn't mean anything. It just meant that they were finally able to get along like they should have been. Like they would have been if it had not been for him and his misplaced hatred. Ever since arriving, he had been trying his best to make it up to her, and putting a lot more effort into it than after the Chuunin exams when he almost killed her. Neji knew he was a very prideful person, but he wasn't stupid. He knew when to take sound advice, he knew that this was his only chance to make things right. And he was going to make sure that he would not repeat his mistakes again.

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"Time for lunch." Hinata told her two daughters as she walked into their room. Haruko was playing with her ninja dolls in the middle of the floor while Hitomi was reading through a scroll she had to write a paper on for homework. Hinata's older daughter looked up and nodded at her mother as she started to put away her things. But Haruko just pouted and held up her doll that looked exactly like Naruto, a Christmas gift he gave her last year.

"But…Kaa-san…I'm not hungry." Haruko whined, "I'm playing with Naruto-ji-san." She said while showing her mother her doll. Hinata smiled tiredly and sighed as she kneeled down so that she was eye level with her daughter.

"Haruko-chan, it's time to eat though. You can play with your dolls later." Hinata told her in a firm but gentle voice, telling her daughter that she was serious. Lowering her face in sadness, Haruko slowly dropped her doll onto the floor.

"Yes Kaa-san." She murmured in a sad and soft voice. Hinata's brows furrowed in sympathy at her youngest child. She was usually such a happy child that it was always difficult to see her in such a sad state. Hinata stretched her arm our and gently grasped her daughter's chin, lifting her small face up so Hinata could look into her big ivory eyes.

"Let me see your beautiful smile." Hinata told her with a smile. Still feeling depressed about the interruption with her dolls, Haruko made an unconvincing smile that only looked like a grimace. Hinata eyed her daughter; a single brow lifted up.

"No…I said a smile." Hinata lightly reprimanded her with a growing mischievous smile as her finger's suddenly attacked her daughter's sides. Childish laughter burst out Haruko's mouth as she squirmed in her mother's grasp. But Hinata didn't let her go; only pulling her small child closer to her to tickle her better. Hitomi smiled widely as she watched her mother torture her sister when an idea popped into her head. Tiptoeing behind her mother, hoping she didn't have her Byakugan activated, Hitomi's hands moved swiftly to her mother's sides.

Gasping with surprise, Hinata suddenly found it insanely difficult to keep a good hold on her youngest as she was laughing and trying to squirm away from her other daughter. Keeping a firm hand on Haruko's side but with wiggling fingers, Hinata moved to reach behind her and found Hitomi's knee, squeezing just above it. Squeals of laughter erupted and filled the room as three of the most important Hyuuga females all tried to tickle each other.

They were so busy focused on each other that they had failed to see or hear the door to the room open to reveal the last two members of their immediate family. Hizashi chuckled as he watched the tangle of females he called family in a tickle fight. Neji also stood in the doorway with his son watching the comical sight. Hearing such easy laughter from all four of them, Neji found himself smiling down on them. Though there was always some laughter going on in the compound, it was never a lot, mostly a chuckle here or there. But seeing Hinata rolling around on the floor with Hitomi and Haruko, tickling each other, it was as if they weren't Hyuugas anymore. It was as if they were a normal family with no hatred, no cages, just love.

Father and son remained where they were, watching the three until they fell onto the floor, panting and exhausted. A giant smile was on all three of their faces despite how tired they were and it wasn't until Hizashi entered the room that they noticed that they were being watched. Chuckling at his mother and sisters, Hizashi made his way into the room and walked over to stand in front of them.

"You guys are hopeless." He said with a smile as he bent down and lowered his hand to his mother. With a mischievous glean in her eye, Hinata looked at Haruko and then at Hitomi as she lifted her hand to grasp his. As soon as she got a firm grip the two girls suddenly jumped up and ran to tackle their brother. Unable to fully fend them off with his mother holding onto one of his hands, Hizashi soon found himself laughing as his sisters proceeded to try and tickle him. Seeing that he was only half-heartedly trying to get away from them, Hinata soon let go of his hand, allowing her children to play with each other. Still trying to catch her breath, Hinata slowly stood up and made her way towards the door, her eyes still on her children.

"They're a handful aren't they?" she asked aloud to the man beside her, but smiles were on both their faces as they watched the children.

"Yes, but…they're easy to love." Neji admitted to her. He had never considered himself good with children; he was usually awkward and short on patience when it came to rowdy kids. But living with them and seeing their admiration and unabashed, unconditional love shining in their eyes each and every day, it was impossible for him not to fall in love with them. As much as he would try to deny it, he knew that these kids were a part of him, his flesh and blood. His children. His. Sometimes it was difficult to believe that he was now a father, that he had to help raise them, but over time he had come to be very protective over them. He knew that he would do anything to keep them safe. He would lie for them, kill for them, and die for them. He was shocked and a little scared of the intense feelings he had for these children, but he knew there was no cure for it, nor did he want one.

Hinata turned her head and stared at him, his eyes glued on her children. Their children. Her intense happiness dimmed slightly as she, again, missed the man who was her husband. If he were here right now, she would be able to wrap her arms around him and feel his arms go about her as well. If he were here right now, she would be able to snuggle her face into his chest and feel his heart pound beneath her ear. If he were here right now, she would be able to tell him how much she loved him and know that he loved her just as much. But he wasn't here. He was gone and she was starting to lose hope that she would never get him back. Yet, as she gazed at the distant man beside her, she could see the love he had developed for their children. Neji's transformation from awkward and distant father to a kind loving one was remarkable, especially in the short amount of time he had been with them.

And so hope once again flared in her chest, warming her heart. She only wished that he would soon turn such loving eyes towards her. He no longer hated her; she was now fully convinced about that. He really meant what he said when he told her that he was going to try and make things different. He actually accepted her help when he needed it and she could see that he did respect her now. Warmth and love surged within her whenever he would grace her with a rare smile or compliment. They were very far and few in between, but he still gave them. The only times it was really difficult for her to hold back her tears were in the mornings, waking up in some sort of contact with him. She could see his confusion over it, wondering why it would happen. She had a suspicion that it was because even though his mind didn't love her, his heart did. It was that thought that always brought tears to her eyes, knowing that he was fighting his heart, fighting the love he seemed to have buried within him.

"You three ready to eat now?" Hinata asked her exhausted children lying on the floor. She had to turn her mind towards her children or else she would end up dwelling on sad thoughts. Panting for air Hizashi, Hitomi, and Haruko nodded their heads and slowly started to get up. "Your lunch is in the kitchen." She told them as they walked by. Smiling with love as she watched them until they turned the corner, her eyes glanced to Neji.

"Would you like to help me look through some old scrolls?" Hinata asked, inviting him to follow her to her office.

"Sorry, but I was on my way out to meet Lee and Tenten." Neji told her. Nodding her head in understanding, she paused once more before she left.

"How's it going?" she asked him, wanting him to open up to her more.

"Good. We started off slow, no thanks to Tenten." Neji said a little bitterly making Hinata chuckle. She could only imagine how that went; Neji saying he wanted to start off right away with complicated jutsus and Tenten forcing his hand, making sure that they started off slowly and safely. Neji smiled hearing her laugh softly; it was nice being able to be comfortable with her. It was nice to finally show her the side of him that he showed his friends, to not have the constant hate in his heart, to be able to smile with her.

"We're finally going to do something more my level now." he told her with a smirk. Smiling back and holding in her laughter, Hinata shook her head as she turned and walked away. Neji watched her until she was out of sight, warmth growing in his chest. He noticed that it would seem to happen whenever he would see her smile. Unsure and unwilling to figure out why, he turned the opposite direction and started on his way to meet his teammates.

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"Hinata-sama? May we have a private word with you?" a Main House member named Hidemi asked trying to hide his disapproving manner as much as he could. Hinata looked up at him, trying not to feel suspicious, she knew he was one of the main supporters that were against her becoming leader and gave her the biggest problems with almost every decision her and Neji ever made. However, wanting to be the 'fair' leader, she was willing to give him a benefit of a doubt.

"We, Hidemi-san?" she asked, curious as to who he was referring to.

"Yes, a few council members along with a few Main House members and I would like to have a private word with you. We would like to…discuss…certain things with you." Hidemi explained to her. Hinata paused, thinking over his request. Usually she did not like meeting with council members without Neji there with her. Whatever they had to discuss, involved him as well since he helped her run the clan. However, with his memory loss, she couldn't rely on him as much as usual. Besides, he was training with Lee and Tenten right now, and that was very important. She could always give him a report later if she needed his help.

"Very well. Tell them to meet me in the council room." She said as she started to rise.

"Excuse me Hinata-sama, but we would like to meet elsewhere." Hidemi interjected before she moved very far. Turning towards him, Hinata looked at him, puzzled. "Privacy is of the utmost importance. We would not like prying ears to hear what we have to say." Hidemi explained to her. Hinata thought it over for a few minutes before nodding.

"Where do you suggest we meet then?" she asked him.

"The meeting room in the side cottage." He told her, "That way we're sure to not be disturbed." The 'side cottage' was actually not a cottage at all. It was large enough to house fifteen families, however it was rarely used. Its purpose was mainly to hold large guests for such an event as a marriage or funeral. The Hyuuga hardly ever held parties and gatherings, but should such an occasion arise, the 'side cottage' would be used.

Hinata nodded her consent though a fleeting feeling of trepidation stole down her spine. She did not think that meeting in such a place was necessary but she could not give a good enough reason to object. Leading the way, Hidemi followed her a few paces behind. They walked in silence and every step she took, she wished Neji were here with her. She did not trust the council members and found it difficult to trust the Main House members that were outside her own immediate family as well. However, she could hardly deny them an audience with her without good reason.

Walking into the large building, the silence that filled the house deafened her ears. She could feel her heart starting to pound for unknown reasons and the hairs at the back of her neck started to rise. Something felt wrong, she didn't know what it was or why she felt that way; she just did. She paused, unsure of where to go, she was not in the house often due to the amount of gatherings her family held. Hidemi moved in front of her.

"This way Hinata-sama." He said as he started to lead the way through different hallways. Looking around, Hinata noticed that though it was the middle of the day, all the shutters were closed and the house was dark. Not a single light was shed and she wondered at it. Why wouldn't they light the way within the house? Were they to talk in darkness? Finally Hidemi paused in front of two large doors, and stepped aside.

"After you Hinata-sama." He said, leading his arm out in an inviting way. Was it just her imagination or was there suddenly a satisfied sneer in his voice? She opened the door and walked in, followed closely by Hidemi. The large room was lit with only a few candles, in the center stood twelve men and women all facing her direction. Six of them were on the council, but all twelve she recognized as the constant opposition she fought whenever making decisions to be changed within the clan. They all stood tall and as cold as ice, unyielding as ever. Gasping with suddenly realization, Hinata spun around only to find Hidemi holding a kunai slashing down towards her.

Throwing herself to the side, Hinata was able to dodge his fatal attack, but he was too quick. The kunai grazed down her arm, producing a large yet superficial gash. Gritting her teeth in pain, Hinata immediately activated her Byakugan and moved into a defensive position. However, all the others in the room had also activated their bloodlimit, producing their hidden weapons. Hinata found herself blocking the numerous sharp objects thrown her way. Unfortunately that was only the beginning and the only easy part. All thirteen rushed forward, trapping her within their mutinous circle. One after another they came at her, making little progress. She may have been considered weak at one point in time, she may have been injured, but she was not a Jounin and their leader for nothing. Her flexibility and speed she had gained from training with Neji was helping her keep her own. But the gash in her arm was draining more blood than she had first thought.

She blocked and dodged mostly, forced to be on the defense, but she tried to attack as often as she could. The odds were against her, but that did not deter her. It was not the first time she was put up against such enormous odds, however she was making little headway. There was just so many of them, and from the looks in their Byakugan-activated eyes, they would not stop until she was dead.

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AN: Yay! I actually like this chapter. I wasn't planning on using it yet, but I was starting to run out of ideas of what to do to pass the time. I hope you guys like it too. I know, cliffy! Yay! I haven't done a good one of those in a while. Mwahahahahaha!!! Okay, now that I got that out of my system, I'm actually really sad that I got 10 reviews on the day that I was going to update. So much for ppl wanting me to update sooner. But maybe I should thank you guys anyways, I mean, since not that many ppl want me to update fast it gives me more time to do HW and chill and stuff. I was going to make the same deal again, but since it didn't work out all that well, I'll just update whenever. Ja.


	11. Rescue I

Chapter 11: Rescue I

Beta'ed by Cookie-chi

_She blocked and dodged mostly, forced to be put on the defense, but she tried to attack as often as she could. The odds were against her, but that did not deter her. It was not the first time she was put up against such enormous odds, however she was making little headway. There was just so many of them, and from the looks in their Byakugan-activated eyes, they would not stop until she was dead._

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"Are you serious?" Neji asked, his usually stoic voice dripping with incredulity. Lee was standing so far away from him, at a distance where he would never be able to reach with his attacks. But Lee was claiming otherwise.

"Yes Neji, this is the furthest point in your current range. And I must say that I am proud of the hard work and dedication you had to get here!" Lee yelled with glistening tears in his eyes. "The Springtime of Youth burns brightly within you my eternal rival!"

"I'm afraid to actually say that he's right." Tenten laughed watching the two. "You progressed every year, pushing the limit of your range, till you got this." She said with a proud smile. Neji still found it difficult to believe, could his technique actually reach such a range? A sense of accomplishment rose within him knowing that his teammates would not lie about his abilities.

"Very well, but let's start with half that distance. That point is still out of my range from the time I remember, but it shouldn't be a problem now. That is, if you two are correct." Neji supplied sinking into position as he waited for Lee to go where he indicated. As soon as Lee did, Neji wasted no time and started immediately. With a speed that amazed even himself; he reached Lee in less than a second and quickly closed one chakra point after another. But just as he was about to close the third one, Neji suddenly stopped. Lee, flung backwards by the force of Neji's attack, got up immediately, confused as to why he stopped. They had agreed earlier that it would be best to just test the range before actual sparring, but Lee knew that Neji had no intention at stopping after only closing two chakra points.

"Neji, is something wrong?" Lee asked, concerned and confused.

"I…don't know." Neji said, standing still. He couldn't explain why he had suddenly stopped; he had planned on closing at least three more points before stopping.

"Something feels…I don't know…not…right." Neji said, trying to explain. Tenten slowly jogged over to the guys, watching the whole thing as she felt just as confused as Lee as to why Neji stopped.

"Everything alright Neji?" she asked concerned. Maybe they started too much too soon for him as she had feared. As much as Neji would deny it, she knew his condition was delicate. Having twelve years worth of memory loss was not normal and therefore must be met with caution. But Neji remained silent, unsure of what he was feeling or how to describe it to them.

"I'm fine but…something feels…just…off. I can't describe it." Neji explained to her as best he could. He finally looked up from the ground to Lee; who looked as clueless as Neji felt, but when his eyes turned towards Tenten she looked even more worried.

"About the attack or just in general?" she asked him anxiously.

"In general…why?" Neji looked at her with suspicion.

"Well…" Tenten hesitated, "last time _I_ felt like that was when one of my students was in danger." She explained. What he had described, she had previously chalked up to woman's intuition. Neji turned his head trying to think. Both of his teammates were here; who else was close to him that could be in danger? Suddenly the compound flashed in his mind. Without saying a word to either of them, Neji sprinted home. It was someone at home that was in danger!

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Hinata was moving as fast as she could, frantic to stay alive. After double-teaming her, she was put solely on defense. Unfortunately she couldn't rely on a rescue; no one knew where she was or whom she was with. And living with a family that could see through things, it was a major law not to use the Byakugan within the compound, for obvious privacy reasons. She could only rely on herself and she knew she was rapidly losing ground. Her injured left arm was slower than her right, causing more openings for them to attack. She tried blocking all of them, but her strength was starting to leave her and her endurance was starting to wean.

She noticed that once her attackers would start to tire, another set would take their place, never giving her a rest. Moving quickly back to dodge a blow, her eyes busy on her attackers, she did not keep track of the slippery blood on the floor. She gasped as she suddenly found herself falling backwards; one of her attackers rushed forward and slammed his chakra-charged hand into her chest. Landing on the floor with a loud thud, Hinata cried in pain as blood spurted from her mouth. A woman who was standing within the circle rapidly moved forward and kicked her swiftly in her head, deactivating Hinata's Byakugan. Pouncing on her, Hinata could feel herself being lifted, her arms yanked behind her. Out of breath and out of strength, Hinata weakly lifted her throbbing head up, blood trickling out of her mouth and arm. Hidemi moved forward, clapping his hands.

"Very good Hinata-sama, we did not expect you to last this long." He said with mocking admiration.

"What…is the meaning of this?" Hinata demanded tiredly.

"Hahaha still stupid and naïve as ever I see." He laughed in her face before backhanding her. Hinata clenched her teeth to prevent from crying out in pain, she did not want to give him the satisfaction of that.

"Frankly, we are sick and tired of your rebellious ways. You are leading our clan to ruin with your changes." He spat at her, anger etched in every part of his face. "It's people like you that degrade our name." The person or persons holding her arms suddenly tugged harder, panting from the pain of her joints coming apart, Hinata struggled to reply back.

"So…because you disapprove…of my ways…you'll assassinate your own leader? I'm afraid…that it is you…that is tainting our…family name." she fought to say against the pain in her arms and the aching of her head.

"Shut up you stupid bitch!" cried the woman next to him as she ran forward with a kunai in hand, slashing upward, cutting Hinata's cheek. Then grabbing her hair roughly, the woman brought her kunai towards Hinata's eyes, pausing only temporarily.

"Hidemi-san will be the savoir to our family!" she screamed at her before brining her kunai down to Hinata's eyes.

"Halt!" Hidemi's harsh voice rang out. The woman stopped immediately and turned a disappointed face to him.

"But why Hidemi-san?" she whined, her taste for Hinata's blood apparent in her eyes. Hidemi's eyes softened as he stroked the woman's cheek.

"Soon." He said to her with a smile. She sighed deeply before letting Hianta go. Hidemi stepped forward and shot his arm out, his hand catching Hinata's throat and locking onto it. Hinata could feel her oxygen supply cut off as she struggled against her restraints.

"Never fear Hinata-sama, your death will not be so bad. We shall continue to honor you despite the fact that you have committed suicide." He said with an evil glint. Hinata's eyes widened with surprise and understanding, they were going to make her death look like she killed herself! They will go on living and no one would suspect! Her body jerked forcibly, desperately trying to get the air it needed. But darkness started to cloud around her vision, and her body grew weaker. However just before she was about to pass out, he suddenly released her throat. She drew a deep breath in but found her mouth suddenly filled with a bitter tasting liquid.

She coughed; spitting most of it back out, her lungs burning from the lack of air. The woman from before laughed hysterically as all of them watched their leader in a coughing fit, trying to get as much air in her lungs as possible. The woman roughly grasped Hinata's chin and smiled maliciously.

"That was a deadly poison of mine. One drop is fatal…how many drops did _you_ consume?" she asked with false concern before slapping her in the face. Hinata's head was whipped to one side, fear and defeat growing in her heart.

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Just as Neji was reaching the compound he saw that Hizashi was just leaving to go meet his team. Stopping quickly, Neji grabbed the boy's shoulders tightly.

"Where are you sisters?!" Neji demanded harshly. Hizashi looked at him with shock and slightly feared at the worry on his father's face.

"With Jii-san, why? What's wrong?" Hizashi asked anxiously.

"Then where is your mother?" Neji demanded; if the girls were with Hiashi, they were safe. But what about Hinata?

"Last I saw her; she was with Hidemi-san." Hizashi supplied quickly. "Tou-san, what's going on?" Neji paused, that name 'Hidemi' it kept coming up in the reports as an instigator. Why would Hinata be with him? There was no meeting scheduled today and he knew that no good would come of Hidemi meeting with Hinata privately.

"Where were they?" Neji asked quickly.

"They were heading towards the side cottage." Hizashi asked, fear and worry for his mother creeping into his voice.

"Get to the Hokage quick and tell him your mother is in danger." Neji ordered him, already starting to head into the compound.

"But…" Hizashi hesitated.

"GO!" Neji yelled, before disappearing into the compound. Hizashi turned and sprinted towards the Hokage building, pumping chakra into his legs and feet like he recently learned, his father's words starting to sink in. His eyes widened with shock and fear for her, pushing himself faster. Hiashi paused his training with the girls as soon as he spotted Neji.

"Oi, Neji…" he called out.

"Hinata-sama is in danger." Neji cut him off as he ran passed him. Wasting no time, Hiashi quickly turned to his granddaughters and ordered them to find Hanabi as fast as they could. She would protect them from any harm, before he ran after Neji, following him.

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Hinata suddenly felt her arms being shoved forwards and her sleeves pushed up, exposing her pale forearms. Hidemi smiled and stepped back, allowing the woman to move forward. She chuckled as she pulled out her kunai and brought it down quickly to Hinata's forearm, creating a long deep cut lengthwise down her arm. Hinata cried softly from the pain, too exhausted to stop from making any noise. The stinging pain just wouldn't stop and she was forced to watch the woman cutting her over and over again. Hinata could feel her lifeforce draining from her arms, her blood saturating the floor beneath them. Tears built up in her eyes and slowly trickled down her cheeks, stinging her cut on her cheek with the salty liquid. She didn't truly understand their plan, Hizashi was still her heir, but she didn't want to bring up the subject of her children. She would protect them as best she could now, and hope that Neji would do a better job of it than she did. As her tears continued to flow, so did her despair. She was going to die…she was going to die and everyone was going to think that she had killed herself. She was never going to see her children again, she was never going to be able to hold them or kiss them again. She was never going to see Neji again.

Seeing that Hinata finally gave up struggling against them, they released her arms and she fell into the pool of her own blood. The smell of it was in her nose, the taste of it was on her lips, and the rest just soaked up into her clothes. Her mind and body, which were already exhausted, grew even more tired. The ever-constant pain was starting to numb, and she was growing sleepy. But her tears never stopped flowing, along with her blood. _Neji, oh Neji…I'm so sorry._ Her heart cried for him, wishing for him to hear though she knew it was futile. He was training; he was probably enjoying Lee and Tenten's company right now. She was probably the furthest thing from his mind. Her heart broke at her own hopeless thoughts. Closing her eyes, she sadly accepted death.

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The door suddenly burst open; two enraged men entered the darkened room. Both Hiashi and Neji's eyes took in the entire scene. Thirteen men and women were standing around a large pool of blood with an unconscious body lying within it. Neji's heart lurched in his chest. _No, not again. Not again!_ He rushed forward, powerfully shoving anyone out of his way. Dropping to his knees he gently picked up Hinata's limp body in his arms. There was blood all over her, her arms were mutilated, and small bruises dotted her neck. Neji's mind was thrown back to the last time he held her like this, the time when she died in his arms. He shook his head violently, trying to deny what was happening. _No, this was supposed to be my second chance! Why can't I ever protect her?!_ He clutched her tightly to him, shutting his eyes tightly against the tears that threatened to fall from them.

Then he heard it; they all heard it. A single small soft cough slipped between her bloodied lips. Neji opened his shocked eyes and looked down at her, moving his hand to check her pulse. It was rapidly growing weaker, but it was still there. Hope surged into him as his hand trailed up slightly to cup her cheek. _Hold on Hinata, hold on._

"Neji!" Hiashi barked, "Get Hinata out of here!" Neji looked back at Hiashi, then at the people surrounding him. Tensing his body, he slowly got up, cradling Hinata in his arms. As soon as he took a step, someone moved to intercept him.

"Don't move!" Hiashi yelled fiercely. After years of obeying him, the traitor automatically stopped as Neji raced forwards out of the room. He paused once he got to Hiashi.

"Hiashi-sama?"

"Don't let my daughter die." Hiashi ordered, not looking at Neji, keeping his eyes on his enemies. Without another word, Neji left him and hoped that help was on its way.

"Hiashi-sama, you don't understand, we just stumbled across Hinata-sama like this. We were too late to stop her from committing suicide." Hidemi said in a soothing voice, trying to placate the vividly enraged man before them. There may have been a point in time when Hiashi did not want Hinata to be the Heiress of their clan, but she was still his daughter. If he continued to think the way he had when she was twelve, he would have found a way to prevent her from becoming their leader, but death was never an option. He may be a hard man, but he was not heartless.

"I cannot believe you would go through such lengths Hidemi…Hayako…Hijikata…" and he continued until he voiced every single one of their names. Forcing them to the realization that he knew who they all were and that none would be safe from his wrath.

"Hiashi-sama please…" Hidemi pleaded, Hiashi was not a man he wanted to mess with. It was never his intention for Hiashi to figure out what they had done. "We are just trying to save our clan. That…_woman_…was going to destroy us all."

"Wrong!" Hiashi yelled with anger as he sunk into a fighting position, "You destroyed yourselves the moment you even _thought_ of harming _my_ daughter."

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"You don't understand it's an emergency!" Hizashi cried as he tried to get passed two guards.

"I'm sorry kid, but the Hokage is busy right now…"

"I don't care! Let me through!" Hizashi yelled angrily and he slipped between them and ran as fast as he could up the stairs to the Hokage's office. Shoving the door open, he ran up to Naruto's desk, frantic and out of breath.

"Hizashi-kun?" Naruto asked, surprised to suddenly find the boy in his office. Hizashi panted as he looked up to Naruto with worried and pleading eyes.

"Please…Hokage-sama…Kaa-san…she's in danger." He managed to get out. All playfulness suddenly flew out of Naruto as seriousness set in.

"Where is she?" Naruto asked Hizashi urgently.

"Hyuuga compound…side cottage…" Hizashi breathed. Naruto looked at the two others in the room that Hizashi had failed to notice earlier.

"Both of you come with me." Naruto said, worry and anger set in his voice. One of them clenched his teeth and fisted his hands as he nodded to Naruto. A low and threatening growl emitted from the huge dog next to him.

"Tsk, troublesome Hyuugas." Complained the other.

"Hizashi-kun, find your sensei and stay with him. Don't you dare go back home, do you understand me?" Naruto ordered the boy. Angry with not being able to help his mother, Hizashi nearly objected, but held his tongue. He knew why Naruto did not want him back at home, and though he didn't like it, he nodded his head. Naruto was the Hokage, Kiba was on ANBU, and Skikamaru was a Jounin…Hizashi knew he would only get in the way. Nodding silently, Hizashi agreed.

"Good. Now Shikamaru, Kiba, Akamaru…let's go kick some ass." Naruto said in a threatening manner before all four of them took off towards the Hyuuga compound.

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AN: Aww so sorry that it's been a long time since I last updated. I was feeling a little bitter earlier and then I totally forgot because it's my last year of college and I have more responsibilities at my internship. I've just been super busy. If it wasn't for Aki Kasumi, I wouldn't have gotten this to you guys till this weekend. I hope you guys like it. Please continue leaving me reviews, maybe then I won't feel so bitter, lol. Love ya'll. Ja!


	12. Rescue II

Chapter 12: Rescue II

Beta-ed by Cookie-chi

"_Hizashi-kun, find Kaka-sensei and stay with him. Don't you dare go back home, do you understand me?" Naruto ordered the boy. Angry with not being able to help his mother, Hizashi nearly objected, but held his tongue. He knew why Naruto did not want him back at home, and though he didn't like it, he nodded his head. Naruto was the Hokage, Kiba was on ANBU, and Skikamaru was a Jounin…Hizashi knew he would only get in the way._

"_Good. Now Shikamaru, Kiba, Akumaru…let's go kick some ass." Naruto said in a threatening manner before all four of them took off towards the Hyuuga compound._

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Panic started to grip Neji's heart as he continued feeling Hinata's blood flow out of her and down onto his body. It was too similar to the last time. It was too similar to the time he was too late to save her. He couldn't save her then and he was afraid that he couldn't save her now. She was still unconscious and growing even weaker. He didn't have time to pause and bandage her arms; he just started to sprint towards the hospital. But now he was having second thoughts, maybe he should have stopped and at least cover her arms. But then the hospital started to come into view and he poured all his of chakra into his feet and legs, pushing himself harder and faster than before.

Bursting in, he yelled for someone to get Tsunade, Shizune, or Sakura. He wasn't sure which one would be able to save the dying woman in his arms, but he knew that those three were the best that Konaha had to offer. He only hoped that they would be good enough to save her. Shizune was the first to run into the emergency room quickly followed by Sakura. They stopped in their tracks at the shockingly, bloody sight he presented them with, but they soon shook out of it.

"Sakura-chan, you attend to her right away, I'll get Tsunade-sama." Shizune said quickly, Sakura nodded as they raced in different directions.

"Quickly Neji, follow me." Sakura ordered him, leading him to a separate and empty operation room.

"Lay her down on her back and while you do, tell me what happened." Sakura told him pulling out bandages and filling up tubs of water. Neji did as she ordered him to, but unfortunately he had little information to give her.

"I don't know what happened. I found her like this. She was attacked." He told her. Sakura immediately went to heal Hinata's arms, but she had lost so much blood. Even if she were able to heal her arms in time, she would still die of blood loss. Suddenly Tsunade burst in quickly followed by Shizune.

"Shizune-san, she's lost too much blood, we're going to need a blood transfusion STAT." Sakura informed when she looked up. Shizune nodded and rushed off to look up Hinata's file to see what kind of blood type she had and then to go get the right kind. Tsunade took over healing Hinata's other arm, both medics temporarily forgetting that Neji was still standing there, watching them frantically trying to save Hinata's life.

"Shit what happened to her?" Tsunade asked aloud.

"Its not self-inflicted Tsunade-sama." Sakura told her. Shizune then walked into the room trailing a machine containing large quantities of blood. Rolling the cart with the machine on top, Shizune paused.

"Can someone offer an upper forearm?" she asked urgently.

"Here!" Sakura called, "I just finished healing that portion of her arm." Nodding, Shizune quickly wheeled the cart to Sakura's side, sticking a large thick needle into Hinata's arm and turned the machine on. The tube that was connected to the needle started to turn red as the machine pumped blood into Hinata's body. Once done with that, Shizune started to attach other different types of things to Hinata, other machines showing her vitals were, carted into the room crowding it a little. After a few minutes, when both Sakura and Tsunade were half way done healing Hinata's arms, her vitals started dropping rapidly. Looking up, Tsunade's eyes were enraged.

"What the fuck! Why is she getting worse!?" she cried looking a the nearly dead woman before her. Frustrated, she quickly looked around the room, racking her brain for what a cause could be. Spotting Neji standing silently in the corner she barked out an order for him.

"Neji! Activate your blood limit and tell me what you see." She snapped. Not wasting a moment he did as he was told and was surprised at what he saw. All of Hinata's chakra points were closed off, yet that was not the surprising part. Her chakra was a different color, darker, as if tainted. He quickly described out loud what he saw and heard all three medics curse. Deactivating his Byakugan he watched Tsunade, Sakura, and Shizune look to each other, a silent conversation going on among them.

"What's going on? What did I just see?" Neji demanded. Shizune looked up and quickly headed in his direction. Grabbing his shoulder she started to lead him to the door, but before she could throw him out, he stopped both of them.

"I'm not leaving." He growled; he couldn't leave her, he wouldn't leave her. What if something happened? What if…what if they couldn't save her?! He had to be with her, he had to stay with her!

"Neji you have to go!" Shizune cried.

"No!"

"Neji, she's been poisoned." She finally admitted to him, "And the process to get rid of the poison is excruciating. You can't stay."

"But…" he hesitated.

"Out!" she yelled before shoving him out the door and closing it in his face. He stood helpless as four other medics ran into the room. Running back to the operation table, Shizune quickly relieved Tsunade from healing Hinata's arm. The extra medics were in charge of holding Hinata down, should they need to, while Tsunade extracted the poison from her body.

Activating his blood limit, he watched as Tsunade held out a bubble of water into the air. Hinata's body suddenly jerked roughly, her face scrunched up in pain as the poison was being extracted. He could hear Tsunade curse at the medics that were supposed to hold her down. Using more strength, they tried to prevent Hinata's thrashing so that Tsunade could work. But after a while of watching the torture that she was going through, Neji burst back into the room.

"What the hell are you doing?! She looks like she's going to die of pain!" he yelled at the medics.

"Damn your eyes Hyuuga!" Tsunade yelled without looking up. She couldn't let her concentration sway one bit, but she couldn't help but yell at him. Sakura looked at one of the medics and told her to switch places. She looked at the pink haired woman with confusion, but remained silent and took over. When she did, Sakura started to head over in Neji direction, rolling up her sleeves. Noting the action, Neji tensed up but stood his ground.

"Neji you will get out of here right now, or I'll knock you out and then throw you out." Sakura threatened, her eyes flashing green fire. Clenching his fists tightly, his arms shook from his anger, but nodded sharply. Turning around, he felt her following him to the door. "Now stay out and don't look!"

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Racing over to the compound Naruto could feel his heart pounding hard against his ribs. He was surprised and yet not about what happened. He never trusted that damn clan, with the exception of Hinata and her immediate family. He knew how the Main Branch felt about Hinata and Neji with all the changes they were making within the family, but since there weren't any physical threats to them at the time, he had hoped that those idiots had changed. The only reason why he was surprised this had happened was because of the timing of it. Why did they wait so long to act? Hizashi was the heir and of course he would follow his parents with the way they lead their clan. He was a good kid with no grudge against anyone, he wouldn't rule the clan the way those stupid elders would want him to. Plus, Hinata had Neji with her; together they made a formidable team.

Suddenly Naruto groaned inwardly as he suddenly remembered Neji's condition. Hinata and Neji were no longer the team they use to be, they were still getting use to each other. Well, Neji was the one getting use to everything. He seemed to be improving a lot since this whole thing had started, but it still wasn't the same as it used to be. Would the elders have noticed that? The strain and tension between them, the awkwardness that filled their relationship? That could be it. Before hand, when Hinata first became leader, Hiashi was always close by to help her out until her and Neji got the hang of things. And by then, Neji and Hinata were married for a couple years and really close. There was no way for them to touch her with either Hiashi or Neji around. But now, with Hiashi being retired for over a decade and Neji distancing himself away from her, she was vulnerable.

Looking over his shoulder, Naruto could see the anxious look on Kiba's face. He could understand why. Kiba and Hinata were so close, like siblings, he would be the one most worried about her. Then looking over his other shoulder, Shikamaru looked as normal as ever. Hinata and him were never really close but Naruto was grateful that Shikamaru valued friendship so highly, even if it wasn't his friend. Moving his head straight forward, Naruto could see the Hyuuga compound coming into view. Silently he prayed that Hinata was alright and that if he didn't get there in time, that Neji did.

"Alright guys! Listen up! Here's my plan."

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He stood still, staring at the stark white door to the emergency room that she was in. His fists were clenched tightly at his sides as his eyes slowly lost focus, turning his gaze inward. His heart was pounding hard and fast in his chest and his mind seemed numb. He couldn't think, he couldn't feel, all he could do was remember. He could remember the large pool of blood that she was lying in. He could remember seeing her frail, slender body being pierced from behind with a sword as crimson red dripped down her chin and dyed the weapon. He could remember the weight of her in his arms, the limp lifeless body of his cousin, of his wife. Oh God! His cousin, his wife, they were one and the same. How could this be happening to him? Why?

Suddenly a vision of a four-year-old Hinata emerged from the depths of his memory. She was sleeping on top of a large pillow, clutching it with her tiny arms. He had just finished reading her a story and when he looked up he saw her with her eyes closed. He had smiled at her; he had thought that she was just the most adorable thing ever. He had loved looking after her, he had loved making her laugh, he had loved her. Remembering his parents and how they acted, he had moved closer to her, slowly bringing his face towards her and lightly touching his lips to hers. His had felt his cheeks burn and his heart race as he leaned back and looked away from her. He didn't wake her and he never told her, too embarrassed to say anything. And then things had changed; they had changed. Why?

Neji slowly closed his eyes as the memory faded away, a painful ache striking his heart. How had his feelings for her changed so much? Going from loving her to hating her to…to what? How did he feel about her now? Opening his eyes, his gaze continued to stay on those cursed white doors that separated him from her. He didn't know how he felt for her now. He didn't love her, he didn't hate her. Maybe he just didn't feel anything for her. _Is that really true?_ He asked himself. If he truly didn't care for her at all, then why was he standing here? Why was he refusing to move from this spot? Why was he suddenly scared that she would die?

"Tou-san!" Neji suddenly heard a familiar voice call. After months of answering to that title, Neji turned his head to see Hizashi walking quickly towards him. The boy looking scared and worried yet relieved. "How's Kaa-san?" he asked anxiously when he finally reached Neji's side. But before Neji could answer, he heard someone else call him.

"Neji-san!" Looking past Hizashi, Neji spotted Hanabi briskly walking towards them with Hitomi by her side and Haruko in her arms. Both girls looked just like Hizashi except to a greater degree. However, Haruko was starting to look very panicked by all the tension in the air. As soon as she spotted Neji, tears slowly started to fall from her ivory eyes.

"Tou-san! Tou-san!" she cried, her arms outstretching towards him as she squirmed in Hanabi's arms. Neji's eyes widened when Hanabi dumped the girl in his arms. Granted he had gotten closer to his children, trying to learn how to be a father, but he never embraced them. He stiffened as he felt his daughter's small arms wrap around his neck as she cried into his shoulder.

"Is nee-san alright?" Hanabi asked Neji urgently, hearing that Hinata was in danger from the children who had over heard their father telling their grandfather. Trying to calm them down, she took them to the hospital because if Hinata were hurt then surely they would bring her here. Seeing Neji was only a temporary relief, he would know what was going on.

"She's…uh…" Neji hesitated, looking at the children around him. Gently, he pulled away from Haruko. "Hizashi, take her." He said as he handed her to the boy who he immediately embraced.

"Go sit in the chairs, I'll be over there soon." He told him. Hizashi immediately started thinking of the worst-case scenario, his face losing almost all its color. But he nodded and led his sisters away from the adults. Neji waited until they were out of hearing distance before telling Hanabi all that he knew.

"Oh my God." Hanabi gasped, shocked. "You…you don't think that she'll…" leaving her sentence hanging, scared.

"No." Neji said sharply, looking angry. He refused to believe that he was brought here just to live that hellish nightmare all over again. Didn't Fate tell him that this was his second chance? His second chance; not a re-living of her death. She couldn't die, he wouldn't let her. He wouldn't let her make him go through such emptiness, such guilt, again.

Hearing the strong rejection in his voice, Hanabi felt relief slowly seep into her veins and take hold of her heart. Softening her gaze, she nodded her head and allowed a small corner of her lips lift. She fully trusted in her cousin, knowing how much he loved her and his determination of keeping Hinata alive. If anyone could keep her sister in this world, it would be Neji. Seeing the trust and relief in Hanabi's pale eyes, Neji slowly allowed himself to relax for a bit. He had to trust in Tsunade and her team, he had to trust Fate and her intentions for bringing him here; he had to trust in Hinata. Turning his gaze away from Hanabi, his eyes soon found the three children sitting worriedly in the waiting area. Making his way over to them, he tried to think of something to say to them, he had to tell them something. But Hinata usually dealt with them, she was usually the one who told them what was going on or what they were going to be doing. Neji was just kind of there, getting use to them, growing to love them.

Haruko was sitting in Hizashi's lap, being held in his arms, tears still streaming down her young face. She looked so scared and so sad, it nearly broke Neji's heart. He may not have been her father for a long time, but he never wanted to see her cry. Hitomi also had tears slowly trailing down her cheeks though he could tell she was trying her best to be strong. She so reminded him of Hinata. How many times had he seen her crying with a look of determination? How many times had he seen her smile through her tears? How many times did he comfort her? Never. A wave of guilt rushed over him as he watched Hitomi clutch Hizashi's arm. In turn, the boy gently pulled his arm from her grasp but then wrapped his arm around his sister's shoulders, pulling her close. Neji felt a kunai slash through his heart at seeing the action. That's exactly what he should've done whenever tears would fall from Hinata's eyes. He should've been there for her, holding her, comforting her like Hizashi was comforting his sisters. How is it that a boy of ten years was wiser than his genius father?

"Tou-san." Haruko gently cried out, being the first one to spot him as he made his way over to them. Squirming out of her brother's arms, her stubby toddler legs ran quickly over to him. Kneeling, Neji gently scooped her into his arms figuring that it would be less awkward to hold her than have her clinging onto his leg like she loved to do. Her tiny arms wrapped around his neck as she buried her face into his shoulder. Holding her tightly yet gently, he stopped before Hizashi and Hitomi who stood up once he reached them.

"Is Kaa-san going to be okay?" Hizashi asked Neji urgently, fear showing in the boy's white eyes. Another tear slowly ran down Hitomi's cheek as her and her brother stared up into Neji's shuttered gaze. He didn't really know if Hinata was going to be alright, but he didn't want them to be so worried over it. Normally he thought that keep information from anyone was wrong, like how his father's letter was kept from him for so many years. But how could he tell his own children that their mother might die? How could he when he was just getting use to being their father?

"Don't worry, she's going to be alright." Neji said softly, lifting his hand and gently wiping the stray tear from Hitomi's eyes. "Don't cry Hitomi-chan."

Hitomi's bottom lip quivered as she fought to keep her tears at bay. She wanted to be strong like her father wanted her to, but it was so hard. She closed her eyes feeling herself loosing her internal battle when a warm hand suddenly grasped her cold one. Snapping her eyes open, she saw Hizashi give her a sad but encouraging smile. A small corner of her lips lifted in response as she nodded her head, banishing the depressing thoughts of her mother's possible death. Then looking back up at her father, she nodded her head again.

"I won't cry Tou-san…I'll be strong like you." Hitomi said as a complement, however the familiar phrase struck a cord in his heart. Hinata use to say that to him all the time; that she wanted to be strong like him. He always scoffed her for saying that, not taking her words sincerely.

"Good girl." Neji said, struggling to get past the lump in his throat. "Now do you guys know where Tenten lives?" he asked them. Both Hizashi and Hitomi nodded their heads.

"Good, I want you three to go there and stay there until I come and get you, understand?" Neji asked, he didn't want them here but didn't want them at the compound either where they could be in danger. He knew Tenten would take care of them and if she needed help Lee lived only a few doors down from her. When the two confirmed that they'd follow his instructions, he asked if Hanabi would escort them over to Tenten's residence. He didn't want Hanabi here either, but knew that she would leave for at least a little while to get them over to Tenten's apartment. Once Hanabi agreed, Neji moved to hand Haruko over to her but then girl refused to leave his embrace.

"No! NOOOOO!!!!" she screamed loudly. She didn't know what was going on but she was able to understand enough of what everyone was saying. She knew that something was wrong with her mother, that her mother might die and leave her all alone. She couldn't bear it if her father left her too. She was scared, oh so scared to be alone, to never being held in their arms again, to never see them smile again. Crying hysterically, Haruko continued to scream until Neji stopped trying to give her over to Hanabi. Trying to calm her down, Neji gently stroked her hair, quietly shushing her.

"Haruko-chan…do you love me?" Neji asked her softly. Surprised by the question, Haruko immediately stopped her wailing and looked up into her father's serious face.

"Course Tou-san." She said worriedly, wanting to make sure that he knew she wasn't lying. A corner of his mouth lifted into a soft smile as he pressed his fingers gently on a specific point on her neck. Her eyes closed and her small body suddenly went limp in his arms. He held her close to him one more time, bringing his lips close to her ear.

"I love you too." He whispered to his sleeping daughter, before handing her carefully over to Hanabi. He watched as they turned around and left the hospital, guilt and worry gripping his heart. He sincerely hoped that the next time he saw them he could greet them with good news.

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AN: Oh my goodness it's been a while. So sorry for the long wait, I never meant for such the long delay, but things at school started to escalate. I didn't have the time nor the energy to write very often on this chapter. I hope you guys like it, I had it half finished for a long time before I got back to it so it might seem a little different in the beginning compared to the end. But at least I made the chapter a little longer, neh? Lol, anyways please continue leaving me reviews and I swear that I'll get to working on the next chapter right away. I still got a ways to go, so just because things look ominous now, just remember that I've got at LEAST…anywhere from five to seven chapters left. So start reviewing!


	13. Rescue III

Chapter 13: Rescue III

Beta'ed by Cookie-chi

"_Haruko-chan…do you love me?" Neji asked her softly. Surprised by the question, Haruko immediately stopped her wailing and looked up into her father's serious face._

"_Course Tou-san." She said worriedly, wanting to make sure that he knew she wasn't lying. A corner of his mouth lifted into a soft smile as he pressed his fingers gently on a specific point on her neck. Her eyes closed and her small body suddenly went limp in his arms. He held her close to him one more time, bring his lips close to her ear._

"_I love you too." He whispered to his sleeping daughter, before handing her carefully over to Hanabi. He watched as they turned around and left the hospital, guilt and worry gripping his heart. He sincerely hoped that the next time he saw them he could greet them with good news._

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Hours passed by, though to Neji it almost felt like eternity. Waiting to hear any news was a just a long blur for him, all he could do was sit and wait. All he could do was sit and contemplate on the past, the present, and the future. He felt as numb as he did on the memorial service held after the war had ended. His mind could not remember anything of the outside world nor the thoughts that would run through his head. Everything was as fleeting as the birds taking off into the sky, wind flowing through their feathers and giving them flight. He had always been envious of birds, the freedom they had which he was denied. The beauty of them in flight was always a sight he both loved and hated, much like his relationship with Hinata.

He always used to deny to himself the depths of the feelings he used to hold for her. Though it wasn't a romantic love, of course, it was love all the same. But when he became bitter and filled with hate, he would just tell himself that it was a mere fancy he held for her. For how could a person burn up with such hatred towards one they used to love? It wasn't until later on if life did he find out how closely those two words were to each other; love and hate. It wasn't even until recently had he admitted his past feelings for her, calling the feeling for what it really was; not a fancy, not affection, but love. Yet it still felt awkward to think of Hinata and 'love' in the same sentence. So used to the word 'hatred', he was. But how can a person fully move on unless they were completely honest with themselves? They can't.

"Neji?" a soft voice called to him as he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. Looking up with the same clouded and inward gaze, he watched as an expression of sympathy flittered across Tsunade's face. "She's going to be alright."

Whatever energy was in Neji suddenly felt like it immediately left him from every single pore of his body. His lungs could breathe more air, his shoulders felt incredibly light, and his heart could now start beating normally. His hand dove into his hair as he looked away, taking several large deep breaths. Tsunade watched him carefully, noting that it wasn't until now that he looked like a man granted another chance at life and was actually grateful for it. She remembered that day the two of them had approached her with their…uh…dilemma. She remembered seeing the change in their personalities from what they were for the past number of years. It wasn't until now, Tsunade mused; that Neji was looking like his 'old' self again.

"Can I see her?" he asked Tsunade in a quiet voice, his pale eyes looking down and to the side.

"Yes, but there is something you should know." Tsunade said gently yet firmly, gaining his full attention and the gaze of his tortured eyes. "She has lost a lot of blood. We were able to extract all the poison from her system so she won't have any effects from that, but we don't know about the damage from the blood loss. The body, especially the brain, requires a constant flow of blood at a specific volume. Try and think of it as if her oxygen supply was lacking, the brain would certainly be damaged in different areas. It's the same in this case, but we're not sure where and how long those damages will be." She informed him, wanting to make sure he knew everything before getting his hopes up.

"What kind of…damages?" Neji asked, pushing past the painful lump in his throat.

"It shouldn't be anything too bad, nothing like memory loss if that's what you're worried about." She told him, relieving some of his worries. It was difficult enough with him and his so called 'memory loss', but having both of them not knowing what was going on would be disastrous.

"Is there anything else?" Neji inquired, starting to become a little anxious to be by her side to make sure that she would be alright.

"No, you can go see now." Tsunade said, she knew that miracles happened more when loved ones were around. Leading him to a different part of the hospital, she stopped once they got to Hinata's private room. It was small, with a single bed and machines and monitors all around. And in the middle of the room, lying on the stark white bed was an unconscious Hinata. Neji slowly walked into the room until he got to the side of the bed, staring down at her strangely serene face. His heart started beating quickly as he remembered what she looked like the last time he saw her near death. Reaching his hand down, his fingers gently encircled her wrist, searching for a pulse. When his sensitive skin felt the slow and soft pump in her veins, he sighed again in relief. He slowly let go of her, his fingertips lightly clinging to her cool skin before he lost physical contact.

Looking away, he sat down in the chair that was provided for him by her bedside. His gaze roamed her body until it landed and stayed on her chest rising up and down with her breathes. The movement reminded him that she indeed was alive and not just a corpse lying next to him. As he sat there all night by her side, he thought about the times when they were together. He thought about when they were children, when they were teenagers, and when they were together in this time period. How could anyone anticipate such changes in their lives? He thought about how he treated her now, was it really any different than when he treated her as a teenager? Sure he no longer called her weak and he no longer considered her brainless, but was that enough? He should've stayed home today; he should've protected her like he promised. Dropping his head in his hands, filled with anger and regret, he once again uttered the words he never thought he would say to her.

"I'm sorry…so sorry."

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A loud THWACK echoed off of the dark barren walls within the side cottage of the Hyuuga compound. A bruised and slightly bloody Hidemi was sprawled on the floor, pain and frustration etched within the lines of his body. The rest of the traitorous group took to cowering a few paces behind him, unwilling to fight a leader they had for decades, too used to eventually bending to his will. Hidemi looked up with fire burning in his pale eyes, yet the fire within Hiashi's was hotter, angrier, and more deadly. He allowed himself to focus on the ringleader of the mutinous crew, but made sure that the rest were always within sight.

"Why can't you see the good in what we were doing!?" Hidemi cried, "It's for the best for our clan!"

"You dare speak your poisonous words within my presence?" Hiashi said with a cold and quiet voice causing anyone who heard it to shiver. He slowly stalked over to his prey that was still getting up from his last blow. When he came close enough, he moved his leg to swiftly kick him, but Hidemi's hand suddenly came up and caught it. It was the first time he did anything but stand there and take Hiashi's attack, he was a Hyuuga after all, the greatest warrior clan in Konaha. Even years of taking orders from Hiashi was not enough to not put up a fight. However as soon as he did, everything in his world started to crumble around him.

"It was all his idea Hiashi-sama!" someone in the back screeched.

"It was him! We are blameless! It was him!" they seemed to chant behind him, hoping to escape the fate they now saw before them.

"Shut up you cowards!" Hidemi yelled as his eyes became glazed over with desperation, his thoughts becoming a whirl in his head that he wasn't able to keep up with.

"ALL of you will suffer the same fate as this snake!" Hiashi cried over the havoc that was starting to ensue. Hoping that he was distracted enough with Hidemi several members started to break for the door. Hiashi turned to stop them when a sharp pain suddenly throbbed on the side of his face, snapping his head to one side. He couldn't believe it, he really couldn't believe that anyone in his clan would dare harm him. Shock rippled through him for only a split second, but it was time enough for Hidemi to make a lunge for him, deadly chakra in his hand shooting towards Hiashi's heart. Luckily, Hiashi was not as crazed as the man who attacked him and was able to recover from his shock just in time to block the deadly blow and deliver one of his own. With his own chakra filling his hands, with the speed of lightening Hiashi smashed his hand into Hidemi's face shooting his chakra into the man's brain and blowing it to bits inside his skull. He watched as the body fell to the floor, never imagining he would have to kill his own kin.

Suddenly remembering the rest of the Main House members that had scattered during his fight, Hiashi quickly rushed out of the room. However he didn't get far before a brush of relief lifted his shoulders. A few of them were being held in place by Nara Shikamaru's shadow jutsu while the rest were beaten up and unconscious on the floor no doubt to the Inuzaka and Uzumaki. At seeing the older Hyuuga, Naruto looked up and then crossed his arms over his chest while squinting his eyes.

"Why is it you got the rebellious one when all we get is the wimpy boring ones?" Naruto pouted, he got his hopes all up to actually fight the bastards who did this to Hinata only to find a bunch of desperately scared and crazy weasels. All they pretty much got to do was gather them up like cattle.

"Thank you Hokage-sama." Hiashi said with sarcasm in his voice.

"So what are we going to do with these mother fu-

"Kiba!" Hiashi suddenly interrupted Kiba, disapproving of his language even though that's exactly how he would describe them himself. "Is Hinata alright?"

"I don't know; we came straight here." Naruto admitted, before looking at Shikamaru and Kiba. "You two deal with them for now, Hiashi-san and I will go see Hinata-chan."

"Hey that's no fair! I want to see how she is too!" Kiba protested loudly.

"But Shikamaru can't bring them all back by himself…and I'm the Hokage." Naruto said with a smirk before Hiashi and him took off for the hospital.

"Stupid, ungrateful bastard…abusing his power and taking advantage of his position." Kiba complained and grumbled as he loaded the unconscious Hyuugas onto Akumaru's back.

"Damn troublesome." Shikamaru sighed under his breath.

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The bright early morning sunlight shone into closed and tired eyes, beckoning them to open. Breathing an exhausted sigh, cramped muscles slowly stretched outward, waking the rest of the body up. Milky white eyes eventually opened themselves to greet the new day. Blinking to get use to seeing again, Neji moved himself back into a sitting position. He had been resting his head on Hinata's bed and eventually fell asleep that way. Standing up to wake the rest of his tired body, his eyes wandered around the white room until they went back to the bed. Hinata was slowly moving her head from side to side for a few minutes until her eyes eventually fluttered open. He watched quietly as her eyes roamed the ceiling but then a panicked look started to appear on her face. Her breathing heightened as her eyes suddenly became frantic.

"Hinata-sama, it's okay." Neji told her quickly to calm her down but her breathing only escalated along with her panic.

"N-Neji?" she squeaked, "I…I can't see. I can't see anything!" she cried out. Neji's eyes widened with shock at her words. Tears quickly started to stream down her face as she struggled to get up, shaking her head over and over again in denial.

"Hinata-sama…" he voiced, but didn't know what to say. He never anticipated that she would become blind. How could someone become blind from an ordeal like hers? Suddenly Tsunade's words came to his mind and he groaned inwardly as he hoped that her condition would only be temporary. Sitting down on the side of her bed, Neji gently pushed Hinata down stopping her struggles.

"Neji?" she asked, her eyes still looking around as if she couldn't find him. His eyes were filled with pity as he continued to stare down at her.

"Don't get up Hinata-sama, you need to rest." He told her softly but sternly, letting her know with his voice that he was serious. "I'll get Tsunade-sama." He said before getting up and pressing a small red button on the wall, signaling that he wanted the nurse. As soon as she came in he asked her to get Tsunade or Sakura. A few minutes later the pink haired kunoichi walked in. After checking all of Hinata's vitals and other medical information, she sat back on her heels and sighed.

"Well I don't think that the blindness in permanent. But it could take up to a couple of weeks to get your vision back to where it originally was. You can wear a blindfold if you like for a while until you get your vision back. No Byakugan unless I clear you, understand?" Hinata nodded sadly at the news. Seeing the distraught woman, Sakura softened her voice.

"Other than that you'll be alright. I'd like you to stay another day until you have strength enough to go back home…"

"No, I can take her back now." Neji suddenly interrupted.

"Neji-san, she's not strong enough to walk back." Sakura explained to him a little impatiently.

"I'll carry her. I got her here, I can take her back." Neji argued stubbornly. Knowing how difficult people can be once they make up their minds, Sakura eventually conceded. Suddenly the three of them heard slight knocking on the door before a certain blond entered the room.

"Oi Hinata-chan, you're up!" Naruto cried happily walking quickly over to the side of her bed. A small smile lit Hinata's face as she heard the happiness in Naruto enthusiastic voice.

"Yes, Naruto-kun." She said, focusing her eyes downward but trying to picture in her mind where he was.

"Hinata?" another, deeper voice called to her. Lifting her head up in surprise, her sightless eyes searched the room.

"Tou-san?" she called back. Hiashi was once again filled with anger as he watched his daughter's eyes roam the room looking for him when he was only a few feet from her.

"Are you alright?" he asked her, concerned. Hinata nodded her head, a sad look starting to form on her face.

"I can't see though." She said dejectedly.

"Don't worry Hinata-chan, we caught the bastards who did this to you." Naruto said with an angry voice. A frown knit her soft features.

"What…what's going to happen to them?" she asked softly, her heart filling with mixed feelings.

"They are going to be punished." Hiashi answered, "They're guilty of mutiny, conspiring against you, and attempting to assassinate you. There are no greater crimes than theirs. They'll be branded and then have their seals activated until death." He explained to her, his voice hard with his hatred.

"No." Hinata said softly, and then louder. "No, I won't have that."

"Hinata these people tried to kill you!" Naruto argued, confused by what she was saying.

"I know Naruto-kun, I'm not saying I don't want then punished." Hinata quickly explained, wishing her eyes could reach out to her husband. "But I vowed that while I am leader of my clan, no one would be branded with the seal or have theirs activated. And I intend on upholding my vow." She said seriously, looking in the direction she thought Naruto, Neji, and her father was. All three of them lowered their gaze to the floor. Neji was the first one to look back up at her, realizing again just how wrong he was in the past. He thought he was the only one that was fighting against his fate when Hinata was fighting right along side of him.

"What do you suggest then?" Hiashi asked after a few minutes. Hinata looked away, silent for a moment.

"I shall give them to the Hokage to decide what to do with them." Hinata said, looking up in the direction she thought Naruto was. He looked back at her with anger still burning in his eyes.

"You know the end result will be the same if you give them to me." He warned her.

"As long as they aren't branded." Hinata said softly. Naruto stared at her for long minutes before a smile slowly started to appear on his face.

"You're an amazing woman you know that Hinata-chan?" he said softly. Hinata's cheeks turned a bright pink at the complement, remaining silent. He chuckled softly as he walked up to her, bending down and kissing her gently on her forehead. "Get well soon Hina-chan." He said before leaving.

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AN: Okay I would have loved to make this chapter longer, but then I wouldn't come to a good stoppage point for another good number of pages and I would hate to deliver a regular sized chapter after a super long one. I hope you guys still like my story. I know it's going really slow, but I just feel that wouldn't be any good if it were faster. Thank you so much to all that review! I love you all and if it weren't for you I would have given up on this story long ago. I keep writing for my lovely reviewers. I hope to update sooner, but I can't give any guarantees, finals are going to come up fast and hard. But please leave me a review to let me know if there are still people who are still reading this story of mine. Thanks again!


	14. Recovery

Chapter 14: Recovery

_"I shall give them to the Hokage to decide what to do with them." Hinata said, looking up in the direction she thought Naruto was. He looked back at her with anger still burning in his eyes._

_"You know the end result will be the same if you give them to me." He warned her._

_"As long as they aren't branded." Hinata said softly. Naruto stared at her for a long number of minutes before a smile slowly started to appear on his face._

_"You're an amazing woman you know that Hinata-chan?" he said softly. Hinata's cheeks turned a bright pink at the compliment, remaining silent. He chuckled softly as he walked up to her, bending down and kissing her gently on her forehead. "Get well soon Hina-chan." He said before leaving._

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Hiashi fussed over his daughter, satisfying himself that she was safe and on the way to recovery. Neji asked if he would pick the children up from his teammate's apartment. He wanted to have a little time with Hinata, to try and sort out all the whirling emotions he was feeling. Hiashi had stared at him for several moments ready to deny his request, he was a bit fearful to leave his daughter alone with anyone now, but then her soft voice gently rose from the bed. Her gaze was lowered to her lap as she, too, asked him to pick up the children. His hard face had relaxed hearing the subtle strength in her voice, the strength she had grown in her years of leadership. He had nodded his head before turning his back to the estranged couple and slowly walking out the door. He noticed that Hanabi had finally caught word that Hinata was awake and was making her way towards her room. Hiashi had stopped and told her not to visit Hinata right now, he told her that Neji and her needed to talk, but of course his stubborn daughter refused to leave without seeing her sister. But before she left, he made sure he had the directions to Neji's teammate's apartment. So sighing deeply after watching her walk into the hospital room, Hiashi shook his head and started on his way.

Hinata and Neji remained silent, he was lost in his thoughts while she was trying desperately to hear and imagine what he looked like right now. She fought to keep her breathing and heart rate even and slow. She fought the panic that had gripped her again when she realized that she wouldn't be able to see his face again…or at least for a while. Her fingers itched to pluck nervously at her bed sheets but controlled that strong urge, it was definitely not the first time she had done so yet that did not make the job any easier. She found herself wishing, again, that he would remember. How she longed to just throw herself into his arms and listen to him tell her that everything would be alright, that he would always stay with her to protect her. She missed him so much, his strong arms wrapped around her holding her tightly as if he never wanted to let her go, as if he needed her. But that wasn't going to happen anymore. _What happened to me?_ She wondered to herself; what had happened to her courage, her determination?

"Neji…" she said his name softly, feeling the syllables come off her tongue. He looked at her questioningly, her voice bringing him out of his thoughts. She had paused for several moments before she opened her mouth to continue. However as soon as she did the door burst open.

"Hinata-nee-chan." Hanabi cried softly, relief flowing through her veins at seeing her sister alive and well. Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest as she walked quickly over to the bed. Her feet had carried her swiftly and then the next thing she knew she had her arms wrapped around her sister. She closed her eyes and silently thanked whatever gods had saved her.

"Ha-Hanabi?" Hinata gasped in surprised. She had heard her voice and quick footsteps, but it had been years and years since they had embraced.

"I'm so glad your safe." Hanabi said softly before slowly pulling away. Hinata smiled as she tried to move her eyes to where she thought Hanabi's might be. Seeing her sister's roving gaze, Hanabi frowned deeply, not pleased.

"What's wrong with your eyes?" she asked, worried.

"She's blind." Neji finally said, watching the scene with detached eyes. Hanabi whirled to look at him, her pale eyes wide with shock.

"What?!" she cried and she turned back around to Hinata who only nodded her head in agreement. "Forever?" Hanabi asked, pushing through the lump in her throat.

"No, it's only temporary. But we are not sure for how long." Hinata told her, feeling her sister's body relax beside her.

"Oh, thank goodness." Hanabi breathed with relief. "Well you certainly gave us quite a scare." She said with a small smile now that she knew everything would be alright. Hinata smiled back at her, though Neji could tell that the smile did not reach her eyes, while she nodded her head as if embarrassed.

"I'm sorry." She said softly, turning her head away.

"Hey don't be sorry, just make sure you get better fast." Hanabi told her, touching her shoulder lightly. It was then that Hanabi noticed that the air in the room was filled with tension, anticipation, and reined in patience. Feeling it as if it physically touched her, Hanabi looked all around the room before she could feel herself wanting to fidget.

"Well…uh…when will you be home?" she asked hesitantly, not really directing her question to just Hinata.

"I'll be bringing her home in a moment." Neji supplied after a few silent moments. Nodding her head, Hanabi then stood up and looked down at her sister, never looking at Neji.

"Oh good, then I'll see two soon." She said, hiding her anxiousness in her voice before turning around. She paused when passing by Neji, gently touching his shoulder before moving on and out of the room. But on her way out she wondered again why she never listened to her father. After hearing the door close, Hinata turned her face back to where she thought Neji was. He stared at her guilty-looking expression, wondering why she would be feeling such a thing.

"Neji…" she started once again, wanting to continue where they had left off before Hanabi interrupted them. But Neji quickly walked to the edge of the bed and gently pressed down onto her shoulder, pushing her back slightly.

"You need rest Hinata-sama. Take a nap, I'll take you home later." He told her, watching her trying to resist against the pressure on her shoulder.

"No, Neji, please I need…" she trying to continue before her eyes closed immediately while her body suddenly dropped back onto the bed. Neji's eyebrow quirked up as he took his fingers away from a certain spot on her neck, it seems as if her blindness would have its advantages. If she would have seen what he was going to do she would have tried to stop him, but since she couldn't see…Neji walked around the hospital room gathering the small amount of things she had and tidying the place a little. He would let her rest for a while before he would carry her back, but for now, he would just content himself with sitting next to her while he watched her sleep peacefully.

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The rhythmic rocking slowly brought awareness to her tired body while her mind still felt dulled with sleep. There was a certain beat, some kind of pounding noise under her ear that reminded her of something, but she couldn't quite pin what it was. She fought to open her eyes and only managed a crack. But she could still only see the darkness engulf her. So forcing her other senses into awareness, they slowly obeyed and told her that she was being carried in a pair of arms that hadn't been around her in months. It wasn't until then that she realized that the beat she was hearing was the pounding of his heart, even and strong, just like him. It brought her comfort knowing that she was back in his arms, for whatever reason. But soon the memories of the recent past came back to haunt her and with them brought the full weight of her guilt, her shame. She had been ready to give up, no…she had given up. She had given up on hope; she had given up hope on him…and their family. What kind of woman was she? What kind of mother was she? What kind of wife was she?

"Neji…" she said his name softly, her hand coming up to his chest, gripping his shirt tightly. He looked down at her, his thoughts and emotions locked tight behind his mask though it wasn't like he needed them now. She couldn't see anything. "I…I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked, keeping his voice void of anything he was feeling. He still didn't know why she was being apologetic, she always was. If anything, he should be the one apologizing to her. He was supposed to protect her and he failed, yet again. He felt as if he could never protect her. If he wasn't trying to kill her, then he was wishing for her death. His vision clouded with memories, he was never good to her, he had never treated her with kindness. And now that he finally could look at her and not feel the burning hatred in his heart, he was able to realize his own weaknesses. He was not fit to be her protector for it seemed as if he was always helpless. Unconsciously he held her tighter to himself, wishing, for the first time, that he truly could protect her. He wished that he could keep her and her children safe, for always.

"For…not being strong enough." Her whispered voice brought him out of his thoughts. He looked down at her face. Sakura had walked in while Hinata was still napping and handed him a blindfold that she could wear. He had put it on her before he had picked her up, careful not to wake her, and walked home. But now he wished he hadn't, now he wished he could see her eyes and that she could have her sight back, so that he could show her with his gaze that he did not know what to make of her statement.

"You were outnumbered." He said after a few silent moments, unsure of what else to say. But she just shook her head as her face conveyed her anguish.

"That is no excuse, a leader should be strong. I almost died because of my weakness." She said sadly, clutching his shirt tightly and burying her face in his chest. His heart had skipped a small beat at her gesture, but he made a mental note to forget it.

"You were outnumbered by no ordinary enemy Hinata-sama." He told her again, "Even I don't know how I would have fared against them."

"You would have beaten them." she told him, her voice full of anger but he knew that her anger was not directed at him. It was directed at herself.

"They knew your style of fighting perfectly, the strengths and the flaws. I had fought against such an enemy at one point in time. I had barely won and that was on a one-on-one situation. Do not beat yourself up Hinata-sama, no one else is." He said to her letting her know that he did not think she should be in such a negative mood, it wasn't like her. She smiled slowly into his clothes, allowing his words to flow over her. He did not hate her, he was not disappointed in her, maybe…maybe he was warming up to her.

"Thank you." She whispered softly into his chest before her eyelids slowly closed on her, the fingers of sleep once again grabbing at her, putting her under its spell.

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He was _not_ in a good mood. He could feel his anger boiling over and saturating the air around him, blinding him everything. This was the second time this week that Hinata was nowhere to be found. He was about ready to ring her scrawny neck the next time he finds her. Why couldn't she understand that she just can't run off to wherever she felt like in her condition? He told her not to roam around the compound since she couldn't see, but it seems as if she didn't like listening to him and was just begging for someone else to try and kill her. How the hell was he supposed to keep her safe and watch over her if he never knew where she was!? She was just as vulnerable as Haruko right now and one would think that she would be more cautious since someone had made an attempt on her life just a week ago. But _no_, she wanted to insist on disobeying not only him but her father as well by roaming around the large compound and wasting his time by looking for her. It wasn't as if he could just activate the Byakugan and find her, it was a cardinal rule to never activate their bloodlimit except in training. It wasn't just a rule but courtesy as well. How would anyone get any privacy otherwise? Which meant that he had to look for her the hard way.

Neji growled to himself as he stalked down the countless hallways of the Hyuuga compound. No one had seen Hinata for two hours; the last anyone saw of her was when she was eating lunch with the children. But after that, nothing. She might as well have disappeared. No one seemed to understand the special circumstance she was in, no one was smart enough to keep an eye one her, and Hiashi could only do so much. He already had the responsibility to watch over the children when neither him nor Hinata could, but to keep another eye on Hinata who went wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted. No, that job was left to him; her very angry husband. He desperately tried to rein in on his anger but it was proving to be a difficult task.

Finally he reached another dojo, it was out of the way and secluded from certain parts of the compound. He was just going to pass by it, but then he sensed a familiar chakra. Feeling it, he grit his teeth and made his way over to it and what did he find? Hinata training! She had pulled her hair up into a high ponytail with her blindfold still over her eyes. She was wearing their typical training clothes and it seemed she was training for quite a while for they were clinging to her body due to her sweat. Her stance was low and deep, her arms outstretched and wide, her muscles were quivering under her, she was practicing Kaiten. As soon as Neji noticed it was her signature chakra, he had lowered his. Now, leaning against the doorframe, he watched her labored breathing as she slowly went through the different and intricate moves to perform the powerful jutsu. However as he silently watched her, he noticed that her moves were slightly off, her body in the wrong position. It reminded him of when he was forced to train her how to use Kaiten, but back then she had no idea where to start. Now, it just seemed as if she hadn't practiced it in a while…either that or her blindness was more of an affect than they had originally thought.

"If you insist on training the least you could do is tell someone." Neji suddenly said, watching her gasp and jump from surprise. Her stance vanished as she whirled in his direction, one hand over her heart.

"Neji…you scared me. I didn't know you were there." she said with a tense voice, still trying to calm her pounding heart. Neji's frown deepened as his anger came back with full force.

"I know. I could tell, your guard was completely down. How could you do that after what happened!?" he yelled while quickly stalking over to her. He grabbed her shoulders in a tight grip and shook her to emphasize his words. "Are you stupid? If someone wanted to attack you, you would be completely defenseless!"

"I…I just…wanted to…train." Hinata whimpered softly, trying not to tremble within his painful grasp.

"In secret! How prideful can you be!? It's just plain stupid not telling anyone where you are and being by yourself." He lectured her, punctuating his words by shaking her. Tears slowly started to sting her eyes as shame continued to rise within her.

"I…I'm sorry Neji…p-please…stop. I'm sorry." She cried as her tears overflowed and trailed down her cheek. Seeing them, Neji finally stopped shaking her and just stood there with his hands on her shoulders. "I…I didn't think it would…be that big of a deal. I…I'm sorry."

Neji closed his eyes and tried to focus his mind on her whispered apology. He tried to count slowly in his head to calm himself down. Nothing could ever be accomplished when one wasn't rational. So sighing deeply, he tried to slowly let go of his anger taking deep breaths to expel it. When he finally thought he could talk to her without yelling at her, he opened his eyes. Her cheeks were still wet from her tears. Lifting his hands from her shoulders, he gently brushed her tears away with the pads of his thumbs. As often as he'd seen her cry, tears just never suited her. Afterwards, he kept one hand cupping her cheek while the other lowered to gently touch her shoulder again.

"Just…promise me you'll never be so…reckless again." he said in a calm voice but one with a slightly hard edge. He did not want to go through this experience again. Hinata lowered her face slightly before nodding her head. Then lifting her arms, she covered both his hands with her own and leaned her face into the one cupping her cheek.

"I promise." She whispered, closing her eyes and feeling her heart pound quickly. They had never been this physically close in months except in sleep. He had willingly touched her, brushed her tears away, and he was still with her. Oh how she longed to just turn her head and kiss the palm of his hand, but she knew he would pull away from her and then the air between them would be awkward. The last thing she wanted was to push him away because of her selfish desire to be close to him, so with great difficulty she resisted that urge. She lowered her hands back to her sides and not a second later did Neji let go of her.

"May I go back to training?" she asked him hesitantly, wondering if she should have asked him or not. Neji looked at her with eyes determined to let go of his anger and move on.

"Your stance was wrong." He told her, not answering her question. He watched her eyebrows knit and her mouth turn down in a frown.

"No it wasn't." she argued. She had done Kaiten thousands of times, she knew where her arms should be, how low to bend her knees, the exact position of her head. The only problem now was that her body was still recovering and so her muscles weren't use to the hard and demanding work.

"Yes it was, everything was off." Neji said with a hard voice, his patience slipping from his grasp. Why didn't she believe him, he learned it on his own and before her, one would think she would value his critique.

"No, I was doing it just fine." Hinata countered, starting to get angry herself. She knew that the time he was from, she still hadn't mastered Kaiten, but that had been eleven years ago. She was not the weak young woman he remembered.

"Damn it Hinata-sama, why are you arguing with me? Your left arm was too high, your right arm was too far back, your right leg wasn't bent enough, your left leg wasn't centered, and your head wasn't tilted right. Shall I go on, because there's more." Neji angrily told her, his voice full of frustration. His hands were itching to grab her shoulders and shake her again. Her ordeal seemed to make her just more stupid.

"Well believe it or not, I have mastered this jutsu Neji. And it wasn't just recently." She said angrily, drawing up to her full height and poking him in the chest for emphasis. Her face was flushed with anger, apparently offended by his words, but it was her stubborn and fighting spirit that caught him off guard. He had never seen her like this before except once. The second day he came here he had watched Hinata and Hiashi locked in a battle of wills concerning him and keeping his second-in-command position. But even then, he was not on the receiving end. She had never argued with him before and he wasn't exactly sure how to feel about it. However it did remind him how much she has changed since his time.

"Perhaps your lack of sight has affected your memory." He snapped, impatience overflowing his voice. He watching her lower lip quiver and her hands shake, she was trying to rein in her anger because she knew he was right. Her stance was without a doubt, wrong; and there was no way she could deny that maybe her blindness was affecting her training. After many silent and tense moments, she sighed and relaxed her stance. Her head was lowered to the ground and her body sagged in defeat. His eyebrows twitched into a slight frown, that wasn't his intention, he just wanted to prove a point. Closing his eyes, he sighed inwardly while crossing his arms and opening his eyes again.

"I suppose I could help you." He said with a neutral voice, waiting to see what her response was. She didn't clap her hands together, raise her head, and offer him profuse thanks. Instead she turned her head slightly away with her jaw sticking out stubbornly, remaining silent. One of his brows rose in slight surprise, was she really going to refuse his help because she was still upset that he had won their argument? She had never been a prideful person yet it seemed as if her pride was getting in the way of her accepting his help. But just as he was about to take back his words and turn to walk out on her, she finally spoke up.

"Thank you. I…guess my…lack of sight is a bigger factor than I had originally thought." She mumbled softly and unwillingly. The corner of his mouth slowly quirked up into a smirk, this was also an aspect of her he had never seen. A prideful Hinata? It almost made him chuckle. He nodded at her to acknowledge her words, but then remembered she couldn't see.

"Shall we?" he said instead, lightly touching her arm. She nodded her head and turned to walk back to the center of the dojo. Once there, she lowered into the first stance of the Kaiten and then held her position. Neji's eyes quickly surveyed her body, noting the details of the differences of the correct stance and her pose. Then walking over to her, he moved her left arm and then her right adjusting their height before he moved on to her knees and ankles.

"You're off everywhere, but if it makes you feel any better it's only slightly." He told her when he was done adjusting everything. His eyes went up to her face and noted her jaw tightening as if she was annoyed, but she kept her mouth shut. It made him smirk again, he had never seen her annoyed and he was starting to enjoy it.

Once he backed away from her, she slowly moved into the second position and he realized that her sight really must have affected her movements. He could see that her proprioception was off even though she had memorized the movements. She could no longer see, with regular sight or Byakugan-inhanced vision, where her arms were in reference to her body or the space around her. He shook his head when she finally settled into the second stance.

"No, go back to the first position. Your transition was a little off." He told her, his voice giving away his concentration and seriousness to his task. Without acknowledging his words, Hinata immediately went back to her beginning position. She was about to perform the transition again when she heard him walk up behind her. She felt his hands carefully grasp her wrists and his body sink into the same pose. The heat of his body enveloped her and she desperately tried to focus solely on her transition rather than his nearness.

"Now follow my lead." Neji said softly, his lips close to her ear. Hinata gulped but nodded her head. His bent knee was so close to hers that she could feel his muscles tense right before he started to move, signaling her when to start. She closed her eyes and concentrated on his body as well as hers, the fluid movements they made, the slight pressure of his fingers on her wrist when she strayed too far in one direction. They had to make some adjustments since she couldn't see any chakra points, but she would just continue to follow Neji's movements.

To someone who has never seen Juken let alone Kaiten, the complimentary moves the two made together, one would think it were a dance. Like a ballet piece that the two were practicing in slow movements. But Kaiten had many positions and transitions, so as they were drawing near the end, even Neji had sweat dotting along his skin. He could feel the trembling of her muscles when they would hold a certain position for several seconds, but she never said anything or protested that they take a break. Respect slowly grew in the back of his mind at her dedication to becoming stronger because technically she should still be in bed. Towards the end however, he knew that she was pushing her limit. So as a sort of encouragement, whenever he felt as if her legs were going to give out on her, he'd let go of her wrist and lightly touch her leg, silently telling her to hold on for a few more seconds before they move into the next transition. It seemed to work for she never gave out, never quit. Finally they came to the last position, he slightly lowered one of her arms while his left leg pushed against hers, adjusting it. His mind quickly surveyed their stance; everything was perfect…except…He leaned his head forward a bit so that his cheek lightly brushed hers. Tilting his head slightly to the right he felt her follow his movement and then they held it there. As soon as they had moved into the position he felt her legs already start to quiver.

"Just a little longer. You can do it." he whispered to her, feeling their skin brush as he spoke. It wasn't until then that he noticed his heart rate spike a little. He had thought it was due to the training, not the close contact with her. His breathing became a little bit more labored as awareness flowed through his body, noting every single place her body touched his. Concerned with this suddenly realization, he quickly brought them out of the stance and took a couple steps away from her, breaking all contact between them. Her skin had a sheen of sweat on it as her hair stuck to her forehead and neck. He listened to her panting for breath, trying to slow it down now that they were done. She very slowly turned around to face him. Lifting her head she gave him a very tired smile.

"Thank you…Neji." She said softly before her body collapsed. Shooting his arms forward, he quickly caught her and held her close to himself to keep her up. Her arms weakly lifted themselves to try and grasp his shirt, but she barely accomplished that.

"You're training too soon. You still need to recover." He said as he continued to hold her, he could feel her heart flutter against his chest and the heat her body gave off. But she just shook her head against him, pressing her face deeper into his chest.

"No…I…I have…to be…strong." She panted, her body felt numb and wiggly, there was no way she was going to be able to stand, even if she wanted to. But as of right now, she was just content being in his arms again. This had to be one of the best training sessions she'd had in a while, she had enjoyed every minute of it. All she wanted was to be close to him.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" he said to her with a sarcastic voice before he slid his arm under her knees and picked her up. Cradling her to himself, Neji slowly made his way towards the other end of the compound to their room. She repeatedly brushed her cheek against his chest and he could feel his stomach knot itself together while a deep warmth spread across the inside of his chest. He hated when she'd do that to his chest but at the same time he couldn't bring himself to tell her to stop. His stomach would churn but not out of repulsion…it felt more like…nervousness. Though he had no idea why he would feel that when she would touch him in such a way. When they passed by the first inner courtyard, he could see that it was Hitomi and Haruko's turn in training with Hiashi. But out of the corner of his eye he watched as Hiashi paused and turned in their direction.

"What happened?" he asked urgently as he started to make his way over to them. But Neji just shook his head and continued on his way.

"She just pushed her training a little too hard." Neji told him as he turned the corner and walked out of the courtyard. He had thought that Hinata had fallen asleep in his arms, but after a few silent moments she spoke up and proved him wrong.

"Me?…_You_ pushed me." She countered, her breathing at a more normal rate than before. Neji quirked a brow and looked down at her.

"It was your idea to train." He reminded her, he was against her training in the first place. He wasn't going to allow her to pin any sort of blame on him. But as he looked down on her, he watched a slow smile spread on her lips.

"You…could have given me a break." She said, lightly arguing with him. It was then that he realized that it was an argument she wanted, yet not a serious one. It made him smile, for as long as he could remember she never opposed anyone, and now she countered him at ever corner.

"You never said you needed or even wanted one. How was I to know?" he asked her, his voice smug. He felt her shoulders shake slightly as she silently chuckled; he kind of liked this new side to her. "What happened to you, you never use to argue with anyone."

"A nice change from the Hinata you remember, neh?" she asked him, slowly tilting her head up as if to look at him. He shook his head with amusement at her question.

"Now you're just fishing for a compliment." He said, hiding the laughter in his voice. He glanced down to see her smile widen and for some reason it warmed his heart. Seeing her smile so easily and at least somewhat happy made him feel a little lighter, forgetting his anger from earlier. When they finally made it to their room, he started to head towards the bed but then she suddenly started to squirm in his arms and protest.

"No, no, just drop me off in the bathroom. I need a shower." She quickly said to him as he paused. Even though she couldn't see, he couldn't help but look at her with surprise.

"Are you serious? You can't even stand, how do you think you're going to take a shower?" he asked her, incredulous.

"I…I'll just have to figure something out." She told him with conviction. He stayed where he was for a few moments before heading into the bathroom and gently setting her down on her feet. Her safety was his department, not her hygiene; she could do what she wants with that. As soon as he set her down he walked right out and closed the door, but not all the way. Just in case anything happens he wanted to make sure he could get to her quickly and without any obstacles. But he didn't get very far when he heard her make several frustrated noises. He stood rooted to his spot as he told himself to stay where he was and let her suffer for her stupid idea, but after a while he growled softly to himself as he walked back into the bathroom. Her pants were down around her ankles and her shirt was up over her head, but she seemed to be having trouble with it. When she heard him walk in, her whole body faced him but she remained silent. He stalked over to her and stopped less than a foot away as he kept telling himself to keep his eyes on her covered face.

"Are you trying to get this on or off?" he asked her in a hard voice, he heard her sniffle and nod her head. Shaking his head he decided for her. Finding the part where it caught in her hair, he quickly untangled it and pulled it over her head and threw it on the floor.

"Do you see how futile this is now?" he asked her, noticing that the blindfold was off as well. Her eyes lowered and rapidly moved from side to side, as she remained stubbornly silent. After a few moments she looked back up to where she though his face was.

"Are you just going to stand there and watch me take a shower?" she asked in an annoyed voice. His gaze hardened as he stared at her face and crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the wall.

"You're giving me no choice." He said as he watched her turn and try to cover her body. _Don't look below her neck. Don't look below her neck. Don't look below her neck._ "Oh please Hinata-sama, you would not be the first woman I've seen naked."

Without commenting on his statement, she stood before him in her underwear for several moments, feeling her face heat up with ever passing second. She really didn't want him to see her, but she really needed to get washed up at the same time. A thought flashed through her mind to try and reason with him to get out of the bathroom, but she had a feeling that wasn't going to work. So taking a deep shaky sigh, she slowly unwrapped the bandages around her breasts. When she was finally unbound she threw the cloth on the floor, soon followed by her panties and quickly got into the shower stall. She tried to remind herself that this was her husband but it didn't help knowing that with his memories, he had never fully seen her…until now. She turned the water on cold for a few moments to cool her hot and probably red face, before she switched it to hot and proceeded to wash up.

However, unknown to her, Neji's face was also a light shade of pink. No matter how many times he had told himself to not look below her neck, as soon as she started to unbind herself, his eyes immediately and automatically flew down to her chest. Her breasts were larger than she let on, round and still perky. A part of him couldn't believe that he was ogling her so openly or at all, but he couldn't deny that her body was…perfect. There was just no other word to describe it so well. Her breasts were large but not overly huge, her stomach was flat with a hint of a six-pack and a few stretch marks signaling her previous pregnancies, her waist was small with flaring hips, her bottom was round and her legs were slender. He had never seen such a magnificent womanly body before, not even Tenten had a body like hers.

"Ahh!" Hinata's startled cry was instantly followed by a thud, snapping Neji out of his thoughts. Leaning his head closer to the stall but keeping his face pointed in the opposite direction, he called out to her.

"You okay there?" he asked her with a bored voice. He still thought this idea of hers was ridiculous. Hinata, hissed at the pain that radiated from her knees and her forearms. It seemed that something on the floor that was slippery was not thoroughly washed through. Not being able to see, in any way shape or form, she had stepped on it and slipped forward. She managed to save her upper body, only falling to her knees, but when her arms shot out to catch herself it had overstretched the newly healed muscles in her forearms. The throbbing in her knees, the sharp pain in her forearms, Neji's presence while she was trying to take a shower, everything wrong just seemed to add up in her mind and she could feel the sting of tears gather in her eyes.

"I'm just fine…ouch!" she cried out when she went to push herself up, blinking her eyes to try and get all the water out of them. Today just didn't seem like a good day, she though as exhaustion moved into her body. Shifting to a sitting position, Hinata lowered her head as she covered her face, feeling the warm spray of water flowing over her hair and down her body.

Sighing deeply and rolling his eyes with annoyance, without a word Neji suddenly pulled his shirt over his head and let it drop to the floor, mixing with hers. He shook his head at this craziness as he pulled down his pants and took off his socks. He wasn't sure if he should keep his boxers on or not, but despite her being blind Neji would just feel weirder being naked so close to her. Didn't matter if she could see or not, he would know and then later on, so would she. So deciding to keep them on, he turned towards the stall and opened the door. His eyes immediately found her dejected form, she look like a sad little creature left in the rain. But as soon as she heard the stall door open and close, her eyes snapped up and she instantly looked at him.

"Wh-what are you d-doing?" she stammered, horribly embarrassed. With amused and curious eyes, Neji watched her face starting to get red and followed the blush all the way down to the tops of her breasts. _So that's how far down her blush goes_.

"Well, seeing how you can't seem to do this on your own…" he stated, letting his sentence hang in the air. He bent down and tried to tell himself to just look at her as if a doctor would look at his patient or how a father would look at his daughter. That's it! Neji immediately tried to see Hinata's nude form as if he were going to wash up Haruko. _Yes, yes, think about Haruko-chan._ Seeing the red marks on the tops of her knees and the way she cradled her arms, that's where he assumed she had hurt herself. Gently taking one of her arms, he lightly caressed the skin, rubbing it softly.

"Is this where it hurts?" he asked her. He couldn't help but notice in the corner of his eye that she had silently gasped, probably out of surprise of his proximity. The light touch of his hand and fingertips on her skin slowly started to block out the pain she was feeling in her arm. She nodded her head as she pointed her eyes towards their arms, opting for staying silent since his nearness was starting to make her mind go haywire.

"Don't know why you just didn't take a bath." Neji commented as he reached for her other arm, doing the same thing to it as he did with her first arm. Hinata's face slowly started to frown as she thought about his statement. Honestly, she had totally forgotten that it would have been much easier to take a bath, especially in her condition, rather than taking a shower. But it was always difficult to break a habit. The easing of her pain from his administrations slowly started to bring back some of her humor.

"Well…maybe if you would have suggested that sooner…" she said, hinting that it was his fault she was in the predicament she was in now. Neji looked up at her, incredulous at first before smiling and shaking his head. When he walked in here, it looked like she was on the point of tears and now she was blaming him for it in the first place. She couldn't have been in that much pain if she could joke about it now.

"Give me you legs." He said, choosing to not comment on her statement. He was not in the mood to indulge her in taking her bait. Hinata moved her bent legs forward before raising them up, her feet flat on the floor and her knees touching. It was incredibly awkward being in such a position and her embarrassment was starting to heat up her face again. If it had been any old day with her husband, he probably would have said some stupid dirty joke before trying to seduce her, pleasuring them both. But now, with Neji how he was…her stomach was tying itself into hundreds of small knots. Oh how she wished she could see him. Was he just as unclothed as her? Memories of the several times Neji and her had been together in the shower, panting, caressing, kissing, pounding…Hinata closed her eyes as she bit her lip hard. She couldn't think about that now! All he was doing was checking her injuries…and her body! _No…no Neji isn't like that. He's not interested in me anymore. He doesn't love me anymore. I don't even know if he likes me!_

"N-Neji…um…are…are you…uh…I mean…do…do you…" the way her thoughts were going, the inner turmoil of her mind was making it very difficult to realize what she was saying exactly. Neji moved his eyes from her knees to her face, wondering just what was wrong with her. First she was sad, then she was making jokes, and now she was practically on the verge of stuttering. Was he ever going to be able to understand what was going on in that head of hers? "Do you have any clothes on?"

The rushed out and speedy question caught him by surprise and he could feel his cheeks flame up at it. He had wondered what she was thinking about but he didn't expect that! Was she thinking about…doing something with him? No, couldn't be, he though as he shook his head. She wasn't perverted or anything, plus she knew that he wasn't really her husband anymore. They were only keeping up pretenses for the clan and the children. Really, the only time they even came in contact was when they were waking up in the morning. He still wasn't able to figure out how he could start out far on one side of the bed, and then end up curled so close to her. But it was a question he did not want to figure out.

"You don't have to worry…" he started out, but then thought about her humorous comment before, "I'm not as bold as you…I'm shy." He said in a lightly sarcastic voice with a smirk on his face. A slow smile started to appear on her red face as she shook her head and closed her eyes. Neji watched her as she started to chuckle from his ridiculous answer.

"Come on up, you're alright." He said as he started to stand, his now soaked hair sticking to his back. Hinata nodded her head as she flatted her hands on the floor to push herself up, but as soon as she put weight on her hands the sharp pain shot through her arms again. Hissing from the pain, she stopped and cradled her arms again. Neji frowned as he watched her, it seemed as if she might have strained the muscles in her forearms, she was going to need a bit more help than he thought. Bending down again, without a word, he slipped his hands under her arms and pulled her up onto her legs. But unfortunately those, too, were still wiggly from the training they had just finished. So instead of standing up straight like he thought she would, she had stumbled towards him. The next thing he knew his hands and arms were plastered to her slick back while her arms were wrapped around his shoulders. Blinking, he looked down at the top of her head and relaxed his hold slightly on her.

"You okay?" he asked, concerned but then sucked in a quick breath when she looked up. Her eyes were wide and so innocent looking, her cheeks pink from the heat of the hot water, and now that her head was out of the way his eyes couldn't help but see out how her breasts were crushed against his chest. It wasn't until then that he could feel them; it wasn't until then that he could feel how her hips were intimately pressed against his own making his heart race. Suddenly her arms tightened around him as her hips pressed even more against him and her cheeks started to pinken even more.

"Neji." She whispered his name, but she did so in such a way that it had desire crashing its way into his mind and body. He then felt his own fingers press into her smooth and slick skin on her back as his head started to bend. His mind screamed at him, what the hell was going on!? When her hips started to circle and undulate against his, when his lower regions started to awaken under her administrations did he realize what he was doing and what was just about it happen. His eyes widened with shock at his realization before he suddenly pushed her away and shot out of the shower and out of the bathroom altogether. He knew going in there was a stupid idea! Why the hell did he go?!

Not bothering with a towel, Neji quickly rang his hair out before throwing on a sleeping yukata and poking his head out of the bedroom door. Luckily a young Branch girl was passing by down the corridor. He immediately called out to her, telling her he needed her to help Hinata with her shower as he was already occupied with another urgent matter. Without question she nodded her head and when to do his bidding as he practically sprinted out the door. He didn't know where he was going to go, preferably somewhere private. As he walked down the hallways he found himself heading towards her office. He entered the empty room and sat down in the chair behind the desk, sighing with relief. His eyes scanned the familiar room, several different memories coming to the surface of his mind. But unfortunately, none of them were strong enough to block out his most recent set of memories. The water spraying on top of their heads, the pink hue on her cheeks, the silkiness of her ivory skin, those two fleshy mounds crushed against his chest, the lust-filled look on her face. She had wanted them to kiss; she had wanted to do more than just kiss and, God help him, so did he.

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AN: Wahahahaha!!! Mwahahahaha! (Suddenly screams as while dodging all the weapons thrown for such a long wait and the cliffy) Aaahhh! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I honestly didn't mean to take so long in updating. But after finals, my cousins took me out to celebrate my 21st birthday (they were 8 months late though) and then I had one day to pack before going on a three-week trip to the Philippines with my grandmother. So I had like no time to work on this…that and I'm had MAJOR writers block…AND to be perfectly honest, if I would have continued going with my original plot line, the story would have ended within another chapter or two. But I've really really loved working on this story and reading all your lovely comments I didn't want it to end! So it took me forever, but I've finally found a way to extend the story for a little bit more. Yay! I really hope you guys like what I had come up with. And I hope you guys enjoy the steamy moment at the end of the chapter. I had made this super long (well super long for me) to make up for my lateness. Oh, BTW this isn't beta'ed because I really wanted to update towards the end of the week, but I'm sending it to 'Cookie-chi' right now so once she's done beta'ing it, there's won't be as many mistakes, k? Please leave me some nice reviews…and don't kill me…cause then you won't know how it'll end….Well…you guys are smart, I'm sure you know how it's going to end, but you won't know the details and those are always important….Dang this AN is getting long. Okay, shutting up right now…don't forget to review!


	15. All Good Things Must Come To An End

**UPDATE AS OF AUGUST 7TH, 2010  
**

I want to apologize to all my readers, either from the past, present, or future. As you have noticed, I haven't updated any story in a very very long time and I am sorry to say that, those stories that are not finished will never be finished. Writing fanfiction was a way for me to de-stress myself while in college and to distract myself from aspects of my life that I did not like. However, now that I've graduated, I no longer have that inspiration nor motivation to write anymore. I am very sorry. I was also tempted to delete and take down ALL my stories because of copycats out there that steal my credit, but I no longer care all that much anymore. So I decided to keep all the stories up for future readers to enjoy, or for those that (like me) enjoy re-reading. However if you do find another copycat, you don't have to notify me, but if you could let that person know that what they are doing is wrong, that's good enough for me.

If anyone would like to try and take on one of my unfinished stories and try to complete them, please do not hesitate to contact me. However, since my name will be connected to it, I warn you that I would like to see just how you write, and if I am satisfied, only then will I give you my story to complete. Again I am terribly sorry for abandoning all my wonderful readers. I love all of you that left me a review. Your encouraging words helped me in ways that you couldn't imagine. Though there were times when I felt completely alone and terribly lonely and absolutely pathetic, it's your review that helped me through the day. I shall never forget your kindness!

Thank you for the wonderful memories,

MissMinnie08


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